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World Measure
The population almanac240 countries · 31,365 cities · UN WPP 2024
City profile · Zimbabwe · Africa

Bulawayo

Bulawayo · Zimbabwe
City population
665,952
#2
in Zimbabwe
#830
worldwide
HarareBulawayo
-20.150, 28.583 · 366 km from Harare
City population
665,952
Within the city boundary, not a metro area
Rank in Zimbabwe
#2
of 29 cities of 15,000+
World rank
#830
of 31,365 cities listed
Share of Zimbabwe
3.9%
of the national population

About Bulawayo

Located 366 km from Harare, Bulawayo has a population of 665,952, making it Zimbabwe's second-largest city and accounting for 3.9% of the national population. The nearest substantial city is Gweru at 151 km away, with a population of 158,200.

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

Position in Zimbabwe
#2of 29
LargestSmallest

Key Facts

Country
Zimbabwe
Region
Bulawayo
Distance to capital
366 km
to Harare
Elevation
1,348 m
Approximate — modelled, not surveyed
Time zone
Africa/Harare
Coordinates
-20.150, 28.583
Record updated
2026-04-14
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 29 in Zimbabwe

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

98KMGwanda27K people151KMGweru158K people156KMZvishavane60K people158KMShurugwi23K people159KMFrancistown103K people · Botswana

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. Bulawayo666K
City-proper figures only. Administrative boundaries differ between countries, so these are not directly comparable to metropolitan-area estimates.
Bulawayo 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
Bulawayo666K

Bulawayo Population FAQ

What is the population of Bulawayo?

Bulawayo has a city population of 665,952. That is the population within the city's own boundary, not its wider metropolitan area. City population, GeoNames.

Where is Bulawayo?

Bulawayo is in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, 366 km from the capital, Harare. Its coordinates are -20.150, 28.583.

How big is Bulawayo compared with other cities in Zimbabwe?

It is the 2nd largest of the 29 cities of 15,000 or more listed in Zimbabwe, holding 3.9% of the national population.

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