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Pyŏngsŏng, 
North Korea
340,370 people lived in Pyŏngsŏng in 2025. It is the 1679th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 7th largest in North Korea.
This is the UN's built-up area, drawn from satellite pictures and census maps rather than from the city limits, and the two can be a long way apart. The rule behind it.
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries
People · every five years · 1975 to 2050
How Pyŏngsŏng grew
For every 10 people in Pyŏngsŏng in 1975, there were 14.4 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 338,730 people in 2050. It passed 250,000 people between 1980 and 1985.
projected (after 2025) · how sure the UN is: high moderate low
How to read this: one column every five years, 1975 to 2050; its height is the number of people. Hatched columns are the UN's projection. The thin strip beneath says how sure the UN is of each figure: the stronger the colour, the surer. A blank means the place was not on the UN's list of cities that year.
People · your family's years · 1975 to 2050
Pyŏngsŏng through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Pyŏngsŏng in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
North Korea · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Pyŏngsŏng is the dot in colour with a ring around it. The grey dots are the other cities of North Korea in 2025, 104 in all, led by Pyongyang, each drawn with an area that matches its people. Countries next door are outlines only.
Area and built-up land · km²
How much land it covers
In 2025, Pyŏngsŏng covered 41 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 5.9 km² of it. That is 17 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 4 by 4 metres. Since 1975, its built-up land has grown to 3.7 times its size, and its people have grown by 44%.
How to read this: each pale square is the city's whole area, the strong square inside it the part that is built on; one scale for all three, so a bigger square is more land. Hatched is the UN's projection.
Of every 100 people in North Korea
Its share of North Korea
Of every 100 people in North Korea in 2025, 1 lived in Pyŏngsŏng, which is 340,370 people.
How to read this: 100 squares, one for every 100th person in North Korea; the coloured squares live in Pyŏngsŏng. The grey rest live in other cities, in towns or in the countryside.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 1675 Neijiang China341,371
- 1676 Iligan Philippines341,172
- 1677 Kigoma Tanzania340,483
- 1678 Takamatsu Japan340,478
- 1679 Pyŏngsŏng340,370
- 1680 Gojra Pakistan340,108
- 1681 Wazirabad Pakistan340,058
- 1682 Birpur India339,926
- 1683 Bo'ai China339,876
In North Korea, 2025
- 1367 Hamhung412,277
- 1398 Sariwon404,672
- 1525 Wonsan373,596
- 1576 Jakdo-dong363,071
- 1679 Pyŏngsŏng340,370
- 1854 Kanggye310,432
- 3547 Nampo170,683
How to read this: names are in order of size, the leading number being each city's rank among all 12,138 in 2025; the bars share a scale within a list. A jump in the ranks means a city under 300,000 people, which is not given a page here.
Apparatus
Sources and method
The figures for Pyŏngsŏng are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 1975 to 2025, then projection to 2050. Projected years are drawn hatched, and the UN publishes no range of uncertainty for a city. What a city means here, how the UN measures one, and why that number can differ from the one Pyŏngsŏng publishes about itself: how the figures here are put together.
Sources: UN WUP 2025 · Natural Earth · flag-icons. Every source, its licence and how to cite it →
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries