What is the population of Sofia?
Sofia has a city population of 1,152,556. That is the population within the city's own boundary, not its wider metropolitan area. City population, GeoNames.
Capital city · Bulgaria · Europe
Sofia
Sofia-Capital · Bulgaria
City population
1,152,556
#1
in Bulgaria
#471
worldwide
42.698, 23.324
About Sofia
Ranking 471st in the world, this capital holds 1,152,556 people and accounts for 17.9% of Bulgaria's national population. The city sits 562 m above sea level. Pernik, the nearest listed city, lies 26 km away with a population of 82,467; Samokov, Botevgrad, Dupnitsa, and Vratsa range from 44 to 60 km distant, each substantially smaller.
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
Sofia-Capital
Capital
National capital
Elevation
562 m
Approximate — modelled, not surveyed
Time zone
Europe/Sofia
Coordinates
42.698, 23.324
Record updated
2023-09-08
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 55 in BulgariaClosest 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 |
| Sofia | 1.15M |
Sofia Population FAQ
Where is Sofia?
Sofia is in Sofia-Capital, Bulgaria. Its coordinates are 42.698, 23.324.
How big is Sofia compared with other cities in Bulgaria?
It is the 1st largest of the 55 cities of 15,000 or more listed in Bulgaria, holding 17.9% of the national population.