Largest Urban Areas by Population in Cameroon (2026)

These figures are from the 2005 census, 21 years old.

79 cities and towns in Cameroon with 15,000 or more inhabitants, ranked by population at the census of November 11, 2005 (by Central Bureau of Censuses and Population Studies, Cameroon and National Institute of Statistics, Cameroon).

Rank	City or Town	Population
1	Douala	1,906,962
2	Yaoundé	1,817,524
3	Bamenda	269,530
4	Bafoussam	239,287
5	Garoua	235,996
6	Maroua	201,371
7	Ngaoundéré	152,698
8	Kumba	144,268
9	Nkongsamba	104,050
10	Buéa	90,090
11	Kousséri (Fort-Foureau)	89,123
12	Bertoua	88,462
13	Limbé (Victoria)	84,223
14	Foumban	83,522
15	Kumbo	80,212
16	Édéa	66,581
17	Ebolowa	64,980
18	Dschang	63,838
19	Tiko	60,796
20	Kribi	59,928
21	Mbalmayo	52,813
22	Guider	52,316
23	Sangmélima	51,308
24	Melong	49,180
25	Foumbot	47,643
26	Bafia	47,471
27	Mbouda	46,071
28	Mutengene	41,063
29	Mora	39,440
30	Meiganga	38,096
31	Yagoua	37,867
32	Loum	37,537
33	Bafangincl. Banka	34,941
34	Mokolo	33,335
35	Batouri	31,683
36	Banyo	30,730
37	Obala	29,054
38	Oku	28,491
39	Mbanga	28,306
40	Muyuka	28,046
41	Bangangté	28,011
42	Wum	27,218
43	Manjo	26,758
44	Ngaoundal	25,853
45	Ndop	25,740
46	Tibati	22,869
47	Tcheboa	22,565
48	Garoua-Boulaï	22,410
49	Pitoa	21,546
50	Lagdo	21,517
51	Yokadouma	21,091
52	Kaélé	21,061
53	Bogo	21,046
54	Bandjoun	20,354
55	Figuil	20,226
56	Magba	19,829
57	Akonolinga	19,282
58	Mbandjock	18,771
59	Touboro	18,583
60	Nanga-Eboko	18,282
61	Eséka	17,904
62	Nkoteng	17,743
63	Bali	17,612
64	Blangoua	17,442
65	Njombé	17,392
66	Kékem	17,333
67	Nkambé	17,191
68	Bafut	16,388
69	Ambam	16,060
70	Souzain: Bonaléa, Abo Fiko	16,022
71	Guidiguis	15,741
72	Maga	15,701
73	Abong-Mbang	15,663
74	Tombel	15,632
75	Bélabo	15,616
76	Soa	15,456
77	Ekondo-Titi	15,370
78	Penja	13,698
79	Mamfé	13,046

Source: Central Bureau of Censuses and Population Studies, Cameroon and National Institute of Statistics, Cameroon (2005 census), via City Population by Thomas Brinkhoff.

Why don't these match official city populations?Official figures typically count only the population within administrative boundaries. UN urban area figures cover the entire built-up area, which can include multiple cities and towns.Show moreShow less

Tokyo

33,338,852

Urban area

9,953,160

23 wards

Essen

2,709,375

Urban area

573,618

City of Essen

Ankara

3,630,865

Urban area

5,186,002

Metropolitan municipality

What counts as an urban area? The UN uses satellite imagery to map built-up land, and treats each continuous stretch of built-up land as an urban area. This means that urban areas can extend beyond official city boundaries, and may include multiple cities and towns within a single urban area.

Can an urban area be smaller than its city? Yes. While most cities have urban areas larger than their administrative boundaries, some cities have extensive administrative limits that include sparsely populated areas.

44 urban areas in Cameroon with 50,000 or more inhabitants, ranked by the UN's population estimates for 2026.

Rank	Urban Area	Population Estimate (2026)	Yearly Change	Land Area (km²)	Density (P/km²)	World Rank	Projections (2030)	Projections (2050)
1	Yaoundé	5,244,714	+2.64%	338	15,526	78	5,799,222	8,661,147
2	Douala	4,202,309	+2.33%	289	14,521	105	4,593,481	6,448,516
3	Garoua	690,663	+1.72%	68	10,157	785	738,241	947,023
4	Maroua	536,346	+1.80%	71	7,554	1,039	574,923	752,049
5	Bamenda	396,914	+0.70%	82	4,840	1,451	407,952	507,393
6	Ngaoundéré	351,713	+1.87%	54	6,513	1,644	377,974	474,470
7	Kumba	341,620	+3.60%	37	9,334	1,697	390,740	623,134
8	Bafoussam	323,507	+0.62%	56	5,756	1,788	331,579	364,027
9	Kousseri	248,206	+1.60%	27	9,193	2,386	264,042	361,228
10	Bertoua	246,516	+4.51%	51	4,796	2,400	290,983	519,845
11	Limbe	241,538	+3.45%	38	6,323	2,461	274,844	498,748
12	Buea	232,028	+3.89%	43	5,447	2,559	268,156	510,955
13	Mokolo	194,176	+1.94%	21	9,246	3,136	209,209	318,468
14	Guider	191,332	+1.80%	22	8,697	3,181	205,113	302,108
15	Foumban	183,949	+0.91%	24	7,601	3,312	190,651	216,671
16	Nkongsamba	181,846	+2.93%	21	8,659	3,356	203,185	310,620
17	Ebolowa	181,138	+4.18%	24	7,675	3,366	211,432	420,309
18	Kribi	149,300	+4.53%	23	6,606	4,110	176,366	324,381
19	Kumbo	131,151	+0.94%	25	5,246	4,723	136,089	165,633
20	Yagoua	125,630	+1.78%	16	7,852	4,934	134,597	200,456
21	Kaélé	123,504	+3.76%	17	7,098	5,030	142,098	216,428
22	Edéa	112,765	+7.50%	21	5,319	5,542	146,599	289,541
23	Meiganga	111,100	+2.59%	19	5,973	5,617	122,612	166,002
24	Sangmélima	107,887	+4.07%	17	6,200	5,793	125,456	245,402
25	Mora	106,794	+1.96%	13	8,090	5,851	115,157	160,572
26	Mbalmayo	106,450	+4.72%	19	5,723	5,879	126,545	251,466
27	Tiko	105,810	+3.27%	20	5,290	5,912	119,668	248,263
28	Bafia	103,271	+4.31%	18	5,613	6,068	121,061	242,395
29	Banyo	98,825	+0.73%	10	9,883	6,330	101,723	115,824
30	Batouri	93,971	+3.70%	12	7,703	6,662	107,883	205,276
31	Mamfe	87,360	+1.01%	10	8,736	7,206	90,906	106,180
32	Touboro	85,560	+1.64%	8.00	10,695	7,365	91,179	128,164
33	Ngong	85,124	+2.09%	12	6,977	7,410	92,234	130,981
34	Ngaoundal	73,887	+2.07%	12	6,056	8,550	79,991	109,581
35	Pouss	70,971	+2.28%	12	5,817	8,851	77,444	122,295
36	Wum	70,888	+1.55%	12	5,811	8,868	75,297	89,468
37	Dschang	68,364	+0.63%	17	4,021	9,178	70,078	78,748
38	Mbouda	66,187	+0.48%	13	5,091	9,487	67,454	77,567
39	Figuil	63,721	+2.00%	11	5,793	9,866	68,826	100,304
40	Yokadouma	63,379	+4.26%	10	6,214	9,913	74,179	154,323
41	Ndop	61,567	+0.75%	12	5,131	10,196	63,406	75,187
42	Loum	56,803	+2.32%	9.00	6,311	10,987	62,074	110,679
43	Foumbot	54,562	+0.80%	12	4,547	11,415	56,312	64,770
44	Tibati	53,256	+3.01%	9.40	5,666	11,665	59,670	81,875

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2025 Revision, Online Edition.

Data topics

Reference

Tools

Largest Urban Areas by Population in Cameroon (2026)

See also