Largest Urban Areas by Population in Syria (2026)

These figures are from the 2004 census, 22 years old.

94 cities and localities in Syria with 20,000 or more inhabitants, ranked by population at the census of September 22, 2004 (by Central Bureau of Statistics, Syria).

Rank	City or Locality	Also Known As	Native Name	Population
1	Aleppo	Ḥalab	حلب	2,132,100
2	Damascus	Dimashq	دمشق	1,414,913
3	Homs	Ḥimṣ	حمص	652,609
4	Latakia	Al-Lādhiqiyah	اللاذقية	383,786
5	Hama	Ḥamāh	حماة	312,994
6	Ar-Raqqah	Ar-Rakka	الرقة	220,488
7	Deir ez-Zor	Dayr az-Zawr	دير الزور	211,857
8	Al-Hasakah	Hesîçe	الحسكة	188,160
9	Al-Qamishli	Qamişlo	القامشلي	184,231
10	Yarmouk	Al-Yarmūk	اليرموك	137,248
11	As-Sayyidah Zaynab	-	السيدة زينب	136,427
12	Tartus	Tartous	طرطوس	115,769
13	Jaramana	-	جرمانا	114,363
14	Douma	Dūmā	دوما	110,893
15	Manbij	-	منبج	99,497
16	Idlib	-	إدلب	98,791
17	Daraa	Dar'ā	درعا	97,969
18	Al-Hajar al-Aswad	-	الحجر الأسود	84,948
19	Darayya	-	داريا	78,763
20	As-Suwayda'	-	السويداء	73,641
21	Ath-Thawrah	-	الثورة	69,425
22	Harasta al-Basal	-	حرستا	68,708
23	As-Salamiyah	-	السلمية	66,724
24	As-Safirah	-	السفيرة	63,708
25	Al-Bab	-	الباب	63,069
26	As-Sabinah	-	السبينة	62,509
27	Ma'arrat an-Nu'man	-	معرة النعمان	58,008
28	Jablah	-	جبلة	53,989
29	Mu'adamiyat ash-Sham	-	معضمیه الشام	52,738
30	Palmyra	Tadmur	تدمر	51,323
31	Babila	-	ببيلا	50,880
32	Nawa	-	نوى	47,066
33	Judaydat 'Artuz	-	جديدة عرطوز	45,000
34	'Arbin	-	عربين	44,934
35	Kobani	'Aīn al-'Arab, Kobanê	عين العرب	44,821
36	Zamalka	-	زملكا	44,661
37	At-Tall	-	التل	44,597
38	Al-Mayadin	-	الميادين	44,028
39	Al-Kiswah	-	الكسوة	43,456
40	Abu Kamal	-	البوكمال	42,510
41	Baniyas	-	بانياس	41,632
42	Jisr ash-Shughur	-	جسر الشغور	39,917
43	Ar-Rastan	-	الرستن	39,834
44	Ariha	-	أريحا	39,501
45	Hajin	-	هجين	37,935
46	'Afrin	Efrîn	عفرين	36,562
47	'Ain Tarma	-	عين ترما	35,722
48	Khan Shaykhun	-	خان شيخون	34,371
49	Qatana	-	قطنا	33,996
50	Qudsaya	-	قدسيا	33,571
51	An-Nabk	-	النبك	32,548
52	Saraqib	-	سراقب	32,495
53	Tafas	-	طفس	32,236
54	Jasim	-	جاسم	31,683
55	A'zaz	-	أعزاز	31,623
56	Inkhil	-	أنخل	31,258
57	Tallbisah	-	تلبيسة	30,796
58	Ashrafiyat Sahnaya	-	أشرفية صحنايا	30,519
59	Ar-Ruhaybah	-	الرحيبة	30,450
60	Al-Qusayr	-	القصير	29,818
61	Da'il	-	داعل	29,408
62	Ra's al-'Ain	Serê Kanîyê	رأس العين	29,347
63	Suran	-	صوران	29,100
64	Yalda	-	يلدا	28,384
65	Al-Quriyah	-	القورية	28,172
66	'Amuda	-	عامودا	26,821
67	Al-Qutayfah	-	القطيفة	26,671
68	Al-Malikiyah	-	المالكية	26,311
69	Az-Zabadani	-	الزبداني	26,285
70	As-Sanamayn	-	الصنمين	26,268
71	Yabrud	-	يبرود	25,891
72	Saqba	-	سقبا	25,696
73	Dumeir	Aḍ-Ḍumayr	الضمير	24,223
74	Jayrud	-	جيرود	24,219
75	Taybat al-Imam	-	طيبة الإمام	24,105
76	Ash-Shaykh Maskin	-	الشيخ مسكين	24,057
77	Subaykhan	-	صبيخان	23,867
78	Salqin	-	سلقين	23,700
79	Al-MalihahDêrika Hemko	-	المليحة	23,034
80	Gharanij	-	غرانيج	23,009
81	Kafr Batna	-	كفر بطنا	22,535
82	Masyaf	-	مصياف	22,508
83	Abu Hammam	-	أبو حمام	21,947
84	Binnish	-	بنش	21,848
85	Halfaya	-	حلفايا	21,180
86	Nubl	-	نبل	21,039
87	Al-Harak	-	الحراك	20,760
88	'Adra	-	عدرا	20,559
89	Tall Rif'at	-	تل رفعت	20,514
90	Safita	-	صافيتا	20,301
91	Kafr Laha	-	كفر لاها	20,041
92	Bosra	Buṣra āsh-Shām	بصرى الشام	19,683
93	Izra'	-	ازرع	19,158
94	Quneitra	Al-Qunayṭirah	القنيطرة	153

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Syria (2004 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.

37 urban areas in Syria 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	Dimashq (Damascus)	4,426,767	+3.14%	386	11,468	96	4,982,849	6,336,460
2	Aleppo	3,010,846	+2.94%	270	11,151	165	3,365,120	4,318,836
3	Homs	963,315	+2.37%	116	8,333	547	1,054,735	1,227,493
4	Latakia	604,430	+2.17%	67	9,021	904	656,952	778,552
5	Hama	384,139	+2.47%	63	6,059	1,498	422,122	538,648
6	Qamishli	295,314	+2.07%	33	8,895	1,988	319,770	361,955
7	Deir Ez Zor	272,847	+4.79%	27	10,257	2,159	325,151	413,917
8	Raqqa	244,110	+2.87%	36	6,819	2,428	272,125	305,953
9	Al-Hasakah	241,758	+2.76%	43	5,622	2,454	268,450	312,089
10	Manbij	182,251	+3.24%	27	6,652	3,345	205,900	266,777
11	Daraa	136,135	+5.51%	19	7,319	4,528	166,108	245,243
12	As Suwayda	131,403	+3.50%	26	5,133	4,706	149,773	210,880
13	Idlib	125,356	+2.19%	12	10,275	4,951	136,341	165,687
14	Tartus	125,207	+4.12%	28	4,504	4,959	145,835	190,191
15	Jablah	99,221	+3.65%	17	5,906	6,304	113,700	159,053
16	Al-Tabqah	96,229	+2.59%	17	5,797	6,494	106,214	130,944
17	Baniyas	89,727	+3.09%	21	4,232	7,000	100,827	131,671
18	Al-Bab	86,223	+7.03%	16	5,258	7,300	110,465	151,144
19	Haylan	83,635	+4.62%	15	5,728	7,544	99,089	195,452
20	Abu Kamal	83,366	+3.36%	13	6,513	7,575	94,567	113,779
21	As Safirah	82,687	+3.10%	14	5,823	7,651	92,937	126,802
22	Al Mayadin	81,862	+3.89%	16	5,181	7,715	94,597	118,257
23	Halfaya	77,653	+2.34%	16	4,853	8,140	84,926	102,414
24	Al-Zabadani	75,929	+3.10%	15	5,062	8,298	85,335	118,262
25	Nawa	72,887	+4.23%	11	6,876	8,641	85,215	119,368
26	Kobani	70,941	+2.76%	9.20	7,711	8,857	78,779	103,619
27	Salamiyah	66,440	+2.33%	11	5,932	9,453	72,645	86,343
28	Maarrat al-Nu'man	65,709	+7.86%	8.20	8,013	9,558	86,347	131,925
29	Al Kiswah	64,611	+4.22%	14	4,550	9,722	75,509	144,168
30	Al-Tal	64,192	+3.63%	13	4,863	9,788	73,499	110,812
31	Tafas	63,933	+2.86%	8.00	7,992	9,827	71,249	94,706
32	Al Mu`abbadah	61,459	+2.80%	11	5,587	10,211	68,333	85,665
33	Al-Rastan	59,428	+2.87%	8.20	7,247	10,522	66,262	87,352
34	Afrin	56,412	+2.79%	8.00	7,052	11,054	62,718	79,971
35	Mazra‘at Su‘ād ‘Abbārah	53,990	+3.72%	20	2,700	11,535	62,032	92,555
36	Houla	52,393	+2.48%	10	5,239	11,831	57,595	71,821
37	Al Qusair	51,817	+2.30%	7.00	7,402	11,929	56,587	66,615

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 Syria (2026)

See also