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Xianning, 
China
274,146 people lived in Xianning in 2025. It is the 2117th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 388th largest in China.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Xianning 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 Xianning grew
Where Xianning had 10 people in 1985, it had 22 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 201,126 people in 2050. It passed 250,000 people between 1995 and 2000. The UN first counts it as a city in 1985, when it passed 50,000 people.
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
Xianning through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Xianning in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
China · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: China and its 2,082 cities in 2025, each a dot whose area is its number of people (the largest is Shanghai). Xianning is ringed, in colour; the other cities are grey. Neighbouring countries are outlines.
Area and built-up land · km²
How much land it covers
In 2025, Xianning covered 62 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 15 km² of it. That is 53 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 7 by 7 metres. Since 1985, its built-up land has grown to 5.2 times its size, and its people are 2.2 times as many.
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 China
Its share of China
Fewer than 1 in every 1,000 people in China lived in Xianning in 2025 — about 1 in 5,263.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 2112 Reading United Kingdom274,632
- 2113 San Salvador de Jujuy Argentina274,625
- 2115 RICCO Industrial Area India274,572
- 2116 Gaithersburg United States274,439
- 2117 Xianning274,146
- 2118 Abu Kabir Egypt274,073
- 2120 Vehari Pakistan273,823
- 2121 Magboro Nigeria273,818
- 2122 Nacala Mozambique273,732
In China, 2025
- 2018 Weinan288,582
- 2055 Sanhe282,844
- 2062 Suizhou282,058
- 2108 Pinggu274,753
- 2117 Xianning274,146
- 2123 Yibin273,660
- 2130 Sanmenxia272,970
- 2162 Wuqing269,223
- 2187 Yaguang266,899
How to read this: the figure in front of a name is where that city stands among the 12,138 cities the UN counted in 2025, and each bar is its people, on one scale per list. Numbers are missing where a city has fewer than 300,000 people and so has no page of its own.
Apparatus
Sources and method
The figures for Xianning are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 1985 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 Xianning 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