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

Foshan

Guangdong · China
City population
9,042,509
#12
in China
#4
in Guangdong
#28
worldwide
BeijingFoshan
23.027, 113.131 · 1,902 km from Beijing
City population
9,042,509
Within the city boundary, not a metro area
Rank in China
#12
of 2,091 cities of 15,000+
World rank
#28
of 31,365 cities listed
Share of China
0.6%
of the national population

About Foshan

Shiwan lies 6 km away, while Guangzhou, with a population of 16,096,724, sits 16 km distant. Foshan itself holds a population of 9,042,509, making it the 12th-largest city in China and the 4th-largest in Guangdong province. At 5 m above sea level, the city accounts for 0.6% of China's national population and ranks 28th globally by city proper.

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

Position in China
#12of 2,091
LargestSmallest
Position in Guangdong
#4of 101
LargestSmallest

Key Facts

Country
China
Region
Guangdong
Rank in region
#4of 101
Distance to capital
1,902 km
to Beijing
Elevation
5 m
Approximate — modelled, not surveyed
Time zone
Asia/Shanghai
Coordinates
23.027, 113.131
Record updated
2025-10-22
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 2,091 in China

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

6KMShiwan82K people16KMGuangzhou16.1M people24KMDaliang210K people25KMShiqiao135K people28KMSanshui154K 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. Foshan9.04M
City-proper figures only. Administrative boundaries differ between countries, so these are not directly comparable to metropolitan-area estimates.
Foshan 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
Foshan9.04M

Foshan Population FAQ

What is the population of Foshan?

Foshan has a city population of 9,042,509. That is the population within the city's own boundary, not its wider metropolitan area. City population, GeoNames.

Where is Foshan?

Foshan is in Guangdong, China, 1,902 km from the capital, Beijing. Its coordinates are 23.027, 113.131.

How big is Foshan compared with other cities in China?

It is the 12th largest of the 2,091 cities of 15,000 or more listed in China, holding 0.6% of the national population.

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