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City profile · Djibouti · Africa

Balbala

Djibouti · Djibouti
City population
554,350
#2
in Djibouti
#2
in Djibouti
#1,006
worldwide
DjiboutiBalbala
11.562, 43.107 · 5 km from Djibouti
Share of Djibouti
46.8%
Of the national population
Elevation
56 m
Approximate — modelled, not surveyed
Distance to capital
5 km
To Djibouti
Time zone
Africa/Djibouti
IANA zone identifier

About Balbala

At 56 m above sea level, Balbala holds 554,350 people and accounts for 46.8% of Djibouti's national population. The city lies 5 km from the capital, Djibouti, which itself contains 626,512 residents. Together the two cities represent the country's primary population centres, with the next-nearest settlements—Arta, Tadjoura, Saylac, and Obock—all considerably smaller and 28 km to 49 km away.

This summary is AI-generated from the figures on this page. The figures themselves come from the sources cited beside each value.

Position in Djibouti
#2of 7
LargestSmallest
Position in Djibouti
#2of 2
LargestSmallest

Key Facts

Country
Djibouti
Region
Djibouti
Rank in region
#2of 2
Coordinates
11.562, 43.107
Record updated
8 July 2026
Entry edited, not measured

City population, GeoNames. GeoNames publishes no year for its population figures, so “record updated” is when the entry was last edited — not the date the population was measured. Elevation is modelled from a digital elevation model rather than surveyed, so it is approximate.

Nearby Cities

All 7 in Djibouti

Closest listed cities by great-circle distance from the city centre.

5KMDjibouti627K people28KMArta17K people35KMTadjoura20K people46KMSaylac19K people · Somalia49KMObock15K people

Compared with the World's Largest Cities

City-proper population against the fifteen largest cities in the dataset.

  1. Shanghai24.9M
  2. Beijing19M
  3. Shenzhen17.5M
  4. Guangzhou16.1M
  5. Kinshasa16M
  6. Istanbul15.7M
  7. Lagos15.4M
  8. Ho Chi Minh City14M
  9. Chengdu13.6M
  10. Lahore13M
  11. Mumbai12.7M
  12. São Paulo12.4M
  13. Mexico City12.3M
  14. Karachi11.6M
  15. Tianjin11.1M
  16. Balbala554K
City-proper figures only. Administrative boundaries differ between countries, so these are not directly comparable to metropolitan-area estimates.
Balbala compared with the fifteen largest cities
NameCity population
Shanghai24.9M
Beijing19M
Shenzhen17.5M
Guangzhou16.1M
Kinshasa16M
Istanbul15.7M
Lagos15.4M
Ho Chi Minh City14M
Chengdu13.6M
Lahore13M
Mumbai12.7M
São Paulo12.4M
Mexico City12.3M
Karachi11.6M
Tianjin11.1M
Balbala554K

Balbala Population FAQ

What is the population of Balbala?

Balbala has a city population of 554,350. That is the population within the city's own boundary, not its wider metropolitan area. City population, GeoNames.

Where is Balbala?

Balbala is in Djibouti, Djibouti, 5 km from the capital, Djibouti. Its coordinates are 11.562, 43.107.

How big is Balbala compared with other cities in Djibouti?

It is the 2nd largest of the 7 cities listed in Djibouti, holding 46.8% of the national population.

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