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

Shantou

Guangdong · China
City population
3,838,900
#33
in China
#7
in Guangdong
#88
worldwide
BeijingShantou
23.355, 116.679 · 1,841 km from Beijing
City population
3,838,900
Within the city boundary, not a metro area
Rank in China
#33
of 2,091 cities of 15,000+
World rank
#88
of 31,365 cities listed
Share of China
0.3%
of the national population

About Shantou

Ringed by smaller cities within 20 km—Anbu at 10 km with 162,964 people, Chenghua at 15 km with 152,453, and Haimen at 19 km with 125,427—this city of 3,838,900 sits at the lowest elevation in its region at 3 m above sea level. The 33rd-largest city in China by population, it accounts for 0.3% of the national total and ranks seventh in Guangdong province.

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
#33of 2,091
LargestSmallest
Position in Guangdong
#7of 101
LargestSmallest

Key Facts

Country
China
Region
Guangdong
Rank in region
#7of 101
Distance to capital
1,841 km
to Beijing
Elevation
3 m
Approximate — modelled, not surveyed
Time zone
Asia/Shanghai
Coordinates
23.355, 116.679
Record updated
2025-10-26
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.

10KMAnbu163K people15KMChenghua152K people19KMHaimen125K people34KMChaozhou1.75M people38KMJieyang1.9M 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. Shantou3.84M
City-proper figures only. Administrative boundaries differ between countries, so these are not directly comparable to metropolitan-area estimates.
Shantou 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
Shantou3.84M

Shantou Population FAQ

What is the population of Shantou?

Shantou has a city population of 3,838,900. That is the population within the city's own boundary, not its wider metropolitan area. City population, GeoNames.

Where is Shantou?

Shantou is in Guangdong, China, 1,841 km from the capital, Beijing. Its coordinates are 23.355, 116.679.

How big is Shantou compared with other cities in China?

It is the 33rd largest of the 2,091 cities of 15,000 or more listed in China, holding 0.3% of the national population.

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