What is the population of Erbil?
Erbil has a city population of 1,612,700. That is the population within the city's own boundary, not its wider metropolitan area. City population, GeoNames.
About Erbil
Ranked 282nd globally and third in Iraq, this city holds 1,612,700 residents and accounts for 3.4% of the national population. Located 319 km from Baghdad, it sits at 429 m elevation. Khasnahzān lies 12 km away with 146,639 residents, and Baḥarkah is 14 km distant with 130,518 residents.
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
#1of 10
Elevation
429 m
Approximate — modelled, not surveyed
Time zone
Asia/Baghdad
Coordinates
36.191, 44.009
Record updated
2026-01-18
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 95 in IraqClosest 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 |
| Erbil | 1.61M |
Erbil Population FAQ
Where is Erbil?
Erbil is in Erbil, Iraq, 319 km from the capital, Baghdad. Its coordinates are 36.191, 44.009.
How big is Erbil compared with other cities in Iraq?
It is the 3rd largest of the 95 cities of 15,000 or more listed in Iraq, holding 3.4% of the national population.