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Rustenburg, 
South Africa
220,723 people lived in Rustenburg in 2025. It is the 2675th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 22nd largest in South Africa.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Rustenburg governs, so it may be far from the number the city publishes about itself. How the UN measures a city.
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries
People · every five years · 1975 to 2050
How Rustenburg grew
Count 10 people in Rustenburg in 2005 and the same count gives 28.2 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 303,959 people in 2050. On the UN's projection it passes 250,000 people between 2030 and 2035. The UN first counts it as a city in 2005, when it passed 50,000 people.
projected (after 2025) · how sure the UN is: high moderate low
How to read this: each column is one of the UN's five-yearly estimates, 1975 through 2050, and taller means more people. Where a column is hatched the year has not happened yet. The strip under the columns is the UN's own confidence in each figure, palest where it is least sure; where it is blank the city was not on the list at all.
People · your family's years · 1975 to 2050
Rustenburg through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Rustenburg in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
South Africa · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Rustenburg is the dot in colour with a ring around it. The grey dots are the other cities of South Africa in 2025, 95 in all, led by Johannesburg, 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, Rustenburg covered 78 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 21 km² of it. That is 96 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 10 by 10 metres. Since 2005, its built-up land has grown to 3.2 times its size, and its people are 2.8 times as many.
How to read this: the outer pale square stands for all the land the city covers, and the solid square inside it for the part with buildings, roads and the like on it. All three squares share a scale, so you can compare them by eye. A hatched one is a year the UN has projected.
Of every 100 people in South Africa
Its share of South Africa
Of every 1,000 people in South Africa in 2025, 3 lived in Rustenburg, which is 220,723 people.
How to read this: 1,000 squares, one for every 1,000th person in South Africa; the coloured squares live in Rustenburg. 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
- 2662 Sahebganj India221,858
- 2663 Mzuzu Malawi221,840
- 2670 Charlotte United States221,000
- 2674 Az Zubayr Iraq220,737
- 2675 Rustenburg220,723
- 2679 Gwoza Nigeria220,641
- 2680 Chlef Algeria220,634
- 2693 Gagnoa Côte d’Ivoire219,607
- 2694 Dhampur India219,479
In South Africa, 2025
- 2249 Paarl259,665
- 2275 Vanderbijlpark257,093
- 2281 Centurion255,900
- 2445 Somerset West239,943
- 2675 Rustenburg220,723
- 2715 Botshabelo-N218,046
- 2827 Ennerdale210,428
- 5137 Paardekraal Ext 2119,589
How to read this: the number before each name is its place among all 12,138 cities in the world in 2025; bars are people, on one scale per list. Only cities that reach 300,000 people have a page here, so a gap in the numbers is a smaller city.
Apparatus
Sources and method
The figures for Rustenburg are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 2005 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 Rustenburg 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