What is the population of Edinburgh?
Edinburgh has a city population of 514,990. That is the population within the city's own boundary, not its wider metropolitan area. City population, GeoNames.
City profile · United Kingdom · Europe
Edinburgh
City population
514,990
#7
in United Kingdom
#2
in Scotland
#1,108
worldwide
55.952, -3.196 · 534 km from London
About Edinburgh
Musselburgh lies 9 km away and Kirkcaldy 18 km away, making the city one of several urban centers clustered in its region. The population stands at 514,990, ranking it second in Scotland and seventh across the United Kingdom.
This summary is AI-generated from the figures on this page. The figures themselves come from the sources cited beside each value.
Key Facts
Country
Region
Rank in region
#2of 58
Elevation
66 m
Approximate — modelled, not surveyed
Time zone
Europe/London
Coordinates
55.952, -3.196
Record updated
2026-02-23
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 794 in United KingdomClosest listed cities by great-circle distance from the city centre.
Compared with the World's Largest Cities
City-proper population against the fifteen largest cities in the dataset.
| Name | City population |
|---|---|
| Shanghai | 24.9M |
| Beijing | 19M |
| Shenzhen | 17.5M |
| Guangzhou | 16.1M |
| Kinshasa | 16M |
| Istanbul | 15.7M |
| Lagos | 15.4M |
| Ho Chi Minh City | 14M |
| Chengdu | 13.6M |
| Lahore | 13M |
| Mumbai | 12.7M |
| São Paulo | 12.4M |
| Mexico City | 12.3M |
| Karachi | 11.6M |
| Tianjin | 11.1M |
| Edinburgh | 515K |
Edinburgh Population FAQ
Where is Edinburgh?
Edinburgh is in Scotland, United Kingdom, 534 km from the capital, London. Its coordinates are 55.952, -3.196.
How big is Edinburgh compared with other cities in United Kingdom?
It is the 7th largest of the 794 cities of 15,000 or more listed in United Kingdom, holding 0.7% of the national population.