Largest City of Pakistan by Area: The Complete Ranking
Which city covers the most ground? The verified answer, the top 10 cities by population (2023 census), and how Pakistan counts its cities.
Last updated: 11 October 2026
km² — Karachi’s area
Karachi population (2023)
Lahore population (2023)
Pakistan’s total population
urban share (2023)
cities hold ~1/5 of Pakistan
The Answer
The answer: Karachi
Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city by every measure that matters — area and population.
By area: ~3,780 km²
Karachi’s administrative area — the Karachi Division, spanning its districts from the Arabian Sea coast to the northern suburbs — covers about 3,780 square kilometres, making it Pakistan’s largest city by area. Some international databases cite 5,853 km² for the wider metropolitan region; the 3,780 km² division figure is the standard Pakistani reference.
By population: 18,868,021
The 2023 digital census — Pakistan’s first — counted 18,868,021 people in Karachi, up 26.5% from 2017. That makes Karachi Pakistan’s largest city proper and among the largest cities on Earth, holding roughly 1 in 13 Pakistanis.
Definitions
How city areas are measured
City “area” figures vary because they measure different things — here’s what the numbers mean.
District / division area
The administrative district’s full area — Karachi’s 3,780 km². This is the figure Pakistani sources use when ranking cities by area.
Metropolitan area
The built-up urban sprawl plus connected suburbs — larger than the district for some cities, and the source of figures like 5,853 km² for Karachi.
City proper
The municipal corporation limits — usually the smallest figure. Rankings by “city proper” can differ from district-based rankings.
Whichever definition you use, Karachi tops the list — it leads on district area, metro area and population alike.
2023 Census
Top 10 cities by population
From the 7th Population and Housing Census 2023 (Pakistan Bureau of Statistics) — the first digital census in Pakistan’s and South Asia’s history.
| Rank | City | Population (2023) | Province |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karachi | 18,868,021 | Sindh |
| 2 | Lahore | 13,004,135 | Punjab |
| 3 | Faisalabad | 3,691,999 | Punjab |
| 4 | Rawalpindi | 3,357,612 | Punjab |
| 5 | Gujranwala | 2,511,118 | Punjab |
| 6 | Multan | 2,215,381 | Punjab |
| 7 | Hyderabad | 1,921,275 | Sindh |
| 8 | Peshawar | 1,905,975 | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
| 9 | Quetta | 1,565,546 | Balochistan |
| 10 | Islamabad | 1,108,872 | Capital Territory |
Karachi and Lahore together hold over 32 million people — more than 1 in 8 Pakistanis live in just these two cities.
The Count
How many cities does Pakistan have?
Hundreds of urban centres
Pakistan has hundreds of cities and towns — the census counts every urban settlement, from megacities to small municipal towns. Punjab alone has 81 cities with 100,000+ people (2023 census). There is no single official “total number of cities” because the count depends on the population threshold used.
Concentration at the top
The 10 largest cities hold roughly a fifth of Pakistan’s population — about 1 in 5 Pakistanis lives in just ten cities. Urbanisation is accelerating: the urban share rose from 36.4% (2017) to 38.8% (2023), making Pakistan South Asia’s most urbanised large country.
Lahore
Lahore’s population
Lahore ki abadi kitni hai? — one of Pakistan’s most-searched questions, answered with census data.
2023 census
2017 census
growth 2017–2023
Lahore — Punjab’s capital and Pakistan’s second city — counted 13,004,135 residents in the 2023 census, up from 11,126,285 in 2017. It is the heart of the country’s northern urban arc (Lahore–Faisalabad–Rawalpindi–Islamabad–Gujranwala–Sialkot–Peshawar), where most of northern Pakistan’s population lives.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
Which is the largest city of Pakistan by area?
What are the top 5 cities of Pakistan by population?
How many cities are there in Pakistan?
Lahore ki abadi kitni hai? (What is Lahore’s population?)
What is the population of Pakistan in 2023?
Which is the most urbanised province?
Explore Pakistan’s geography
Cities, mountains, rivers and more — dive into our Pakistan geography guides.
Population figures from the 7th Population and Housing Census 2023, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. City area figures use administrative (district/division) areas; metropolitan-area definitions give larger numbers.