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Semarang, 
Indonesia
2,679,349 people lived in Semarang in 2025. It is the 186th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 7th largest in Indonesia.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Semarang 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 Semarang grew
Count 10 people in Semarang in 1975 and the same count gives 21.6 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 2.4 million people in 2050.
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
Semarang through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Semarang in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Indonesia · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Semarang is the dot in colour with a ring around it. The grey dots are the other cities of Indonesia in 2025, 389 in all, led by Jakarta, 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, Semarang covered 416 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 88 km² of it. That is 33 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 6 by 6 metres. Since 1975, its built-up land has grown to 2.4 times its size, and its people are 2.2 times as many.
How to read this: pale is the whole of the city's land; the stronger square inside it is what is actually built on. The three are drawn to the same scale, so a larger square really is more land, and hatching means the year is the UN's projection rather than a count.
Of every 100 people in Indonesia
Its share of Indonesia
Of every 1,000 people in Indonesia in 2025, 9 lived in Semarang, which is 2.7 million people.
How to read this: shrink Indonesia to 1,000 people and this is what you get. The coloured squares are the ones who would live in Semarang; the grey ones are everybody else, in other cities, in towns and out in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 182 Conacry Guinea2,727,684
- 183 Essen Germany2,717,087
- 184 Cali Colombia2,700,232
- 185 Guiyang China2,686,949
- 186 Semarang2,679,349
- 187 Montreal Canada2,668,723
- 188 Izmir Türkiye2,650,237
- 189 Changzhou China2,649,836
- 190 Tel Aviv Israel2,642,872
In Indonesia, 2025
- 54 Surabaya6,843,503
- 102 Medan4,245,895
- 177 Tasikmalaya2,827,255
- 179 Yogyakarta2,793,747
- 186 Semarang2,679,349
- 209 Denpasar2,352,734
- 223 Makassar2,255,088
- 237 Palembang2,132,576
- 259 Tarogong1,917,036
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 Semarang 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 Semarang 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