Largest Cities in Iran 2026: Population Ranking

Iran's cities at a glance

Updated October 2026

Dots sized by population · Tehran in orange

Iran has 6 cities with more than a million inhabitants and 85 with more than 100,000 (city-proper figures). The largest is Tehran with 7,153,309 people, followed by Mashhad (2,307,177) and Isfahan (1,547,164). The three largest cities together hold about 11.8% of the country's 93.4 million people.

The capital, Tehran, is also the largest city.

By region, the most large cities are in Khuzestan (10), Razavi Khorasan (7), West Azerbaijan (6).

Country-level figures — live population, births and deaths, growth, density and history — are on the Iran population page; provinces, terrain, rivers and society maps are in the Iran atlas.

Iran cities by population

85 cities · GeoNames · city proper

#	City	Region	Population	Share of Iran
1	TehranCapital	Tehran	7,153,309	7.7%
2	Mashhad	Razavi Khorasan	2,307,177	2.5%
3	Isfahan	Isfahan	1,547,164	1.7%
4	Karaj	Alborz Province	1,448,075	1.6%
5	Tabriz	East Azerbaijan	1,424,641	1.5%
6	Shiraz	Fars	1,249,942	1.3%
7	Qom	Qom Province	900,000	1%
8	Ahvaz	Khuzestan	841,145	0.9%
9	Kermanshah	Kermanshah Province	621,100	0.7%
10	Rasht	Gilan Province	594,590	0.6%
11	Kerman	Kerman	577,514	0.6%
12	Orūmīyeh	West Azerbaijan	577,307	0.6%
13	Zahedan	Sistan and Baluchestan	551,980	0.6%
14	Hamadān	Hamadan Province	528,256	0.6%
15	Arāk	Markazi	503,647	0.5%
16	Yazd	Yazd Province	477,905	0.5%
17	Ardabīl	Ardabil Province	410,753	0.4%
18	Zanjan	Zanjan	357,471	0.4%
19	Bandar Abbas	Hormozgan	352,173	0.4%
20	Sanandaj	Kurdistan Province	349,176	0.4%
21	Qazvin	Qazvin Province	333,635	0.4%
22	Khorramshahr	Khuzestan	330,606	0.4%
23	Khorramabad	Lorestan Province	329,825	0.4%
24	Kashan	Isfahan	304,487	0.3%
25	Kāshān	Isfahan	304,487	0.3%
26	Dezful	Khuzestan	264,709	0.3%
27	Marāgheh	East Azerbaijan	262,604	0.3%
28	Marāgheh	Razavi Khorasan	262,604	0.3%
29	Sari	Māzandarān	255,396	0.3%
30	Borūjerd	Lorestan Province	251,958	0.3%
31	Gorgān	Golestan	244,937	0.3%
32	Sabzevar	Razavi Khorasan	243,700	0.3%
33	Āmol	Māzandarān	237,528	0.3%
34	Abadan	Khuzestan	231,476	0.2%
35	Neyshābūr	Razavi Khorasan	220,929	0.2%
36	Sāveh	Markazi	220,762	0.2%
37	Naz̧arābād	Alborz Province	213,388	0.2%
38	Qā’em Shahr	Māzandarān	204,953	0.2%
39	Bābol	Māzandarān	202,796	0.2%
40	Sirjan	Kerman	199,704	0.2%
41	Khūy	West Azerbaijan	198,845	0.2%
42	Bīrjand	South Khorasan Province	196,982	0.2%
43	Būkān	West Azerbaijan	193,501	0.2%
44	Bojnūrd	North Khorasan	192,041	0.2%
45	Malāyer	Hamadan Province	170,237	0.2%
46	Piranshahr	West Azerbaijan	168,393	0.2%
47	Mahābād	West Azerbaijan	168,393	0.2%
48	Bushehr	Bushehr	165,377	0.2%
49	Saqqez	Kurdistan Province	165,258	0.2%
50	Shahrud	Semnan	165,000	0.2%
51	Bandar-e Māhshahr	Khuzestan	162,797	0.2%
52	Gonbad-e Kāvūs	Golestan	151,910	0.2%
53	Marvdasht	Fars	148,858	0.2%
54	Rafsanjān	Kerman	147,680	0.2%
55	Kamālshahr	Alborz Province	141,669	0.2%
56	Jahrom	Fars	141,634	0.2%
57	Īlām	Ilam Province	140,940	0.2%
58	Torbat-e Ḩeydarīyeh	Razavi Khorasan	140,019	0.1%
59	Marīvān	Kurdistan Province	136,654	0.1%
60	Andīmeshk	Khuzestan	135,116	0.1%
61	Shahreẕā	Isfahan	134,952	0.1%
62	Mīāndoāb	West Azerbaijan	134,425	0.1%
63	Kāshmar	Razavi Khorasan	131,517	0.1%
64	Iranshahr	Sistan and Baluchestan	131,232	0.1%
65	Jīroft	Kerman	130,429	0.1%
66	Shahr-e Kord	Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari	129,153	0.1%
67	Semnan	Semnan	124,826	0.1%
68	Marand	East Azerbaijan	124,191	0.1%
69	Behbahān	Khuzestan	122,604	0.1%
70	Shahr-e Ṣadrā	Fars	122,226	0.1%
71	Zābol	Sistan and Baluchestan	121,989	0.1%
72	Dorūd	Lorestan Province	121,638	0.1%
73	Moḩammad Shahr	Alborz Province	119,418	0.1%
74	Īz̄eh	Khuzestan	119,399	0.1%
75	Bandar-e Anzalī	Gilan Province	118,564	0.1%
76	Kāzerūn	Fars	112,360	0.1%
77	Qūchān	Razavi Khorasan	111,752	0.1%
78	Bāneh	Kurdistan Province	110,218	0.1%
79	Chālūs	Māzandarān	107,490	0.1%
80	Mīāneh	East Azerbaijan	106,291	0.1%
81	Pārsābād	Ardabil Province	102,996	0.1%
82	Shūshtar	Khuzestan	101,878	0.1%
83	Lāhījān	Gilan Province	101,073	0.1%
84	Ahar	East Azerbaijan	100,641	0.1%
85	Masjed Soleymān	Khuzestan	100,497	0.1%

Cities with 300,000 or more people link to their own page. The list keeps every city of 100,000+ and at least the 30 largest places of the country.

Frequently asked questions

What is the largest city in Iran?

Tehran, with about 7,153,309 inhabitants (city proper).

What is the capital of Iran?

Tehran — population 7,153,309, the largest city in the country.

How many cities in Iran have over one million people?

6: Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, Tabriz, Shiraz.

Are these metropolitan-area populations?

No. They are city-proper figures (the administrative city) from GeoNames, based on the latest census or official estimate. Metropolitan areas, which include suburbs and satellite towns, are larger — often several times larger for the biggest cities.

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Glostats. (2026). Largest Cities in Iran 2026: Population Ranking. Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://glostats.com/cities/iran/

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City populations are GeoNames figures (CC BY 4.0): the latest official census or estimate for the city proper — the municipality, not the wider metropolitan area — so they can differ from "metro area" numbers you see elsewhere. Country populations are live Glostats estimates from the UN World Population Prospects. Page generated 2026-10-20. More about our data.