Cities In Punjab

Generally we are asked the question 'How many cities are there in Punjab?', the correct answer is that there are total 168 cities in Punjab. Some other answers could be 143, 217 and 237 which are not completely incorrect and have some weight. To have a complete understading, continue reading the next sections.

There is no rigid sharp line between a city and a town or between a town and a village. Cities or Towns notified by the government are called Statutary Towns. In these towns, an urban local body like Municipal Council is formed. In Punjab, there are three types of urban local bodies - Municipal Corporation, Municipal Council and Nagar Panchayat. Municipal Councils are further devided into three categories that is Class-1, Class-2 and Class-3. A town with the population above one lakh is called a city. But normally the word City or Town is used interchangably.
At present there are total 168 statutary towns in Punjab and another 69 census towns. Thus there are total 237 towns (or say cities) in Punjab. The list of statutary towns include 13 Municipal Corporations, 93 Municipal Councils, 59 Nagar Panchayats and 3 Cantonment Boards.
Total Cities in Punjab by Category
Statutary Towns (Cities) = 168
a) Municipal Corporations = 13
b) Municipal Councils = 93
c) Nagar Panchayats = 59
d) Cantonment Boards = 3
Census Towns = 69
Total Towns = 237

Bathinda with 21 towns is the district with the largest number of towns. Pathankot, the district with lowest number of towns have only two towns Pathankot and Sujanpur. If you are looking for information about districts of Punjab, then you can get more details on this page related to districts of Punjab.

Census Towns In Punjab

According to the 2011 census, there were total 217 towns in Punjab. Alongwith the 143 statutory towns (ST), it also includes 74 census towns (CT). A census town is not a notified town according to state government (treated as a village in the records of state govt), but it meets the definition of town according to the census department. In the years after census survey, 25 new statutary towns have been notified by the state government and thus number of statutary towns have increased to 168. Amongst this list of 25 new towns, 5 are from the census towns, thus decreasing the number of census towns fron 74 to 69.
City Population or Urban Population - According to census of 2011, the total urban population or population of cities of Punjab is 1.04 crore. This is 37.5% of the total population of the state. During the period of 2001 to 2011, the population of cities of Punjab has increased by 25.8%, whereas the overall increase in the population of Punjab is 13.9%. The migration of people from rural areas to cities and also rapid urbanization of rural areas around cities is the main contribution factor in the rapid growth of population in the urban areas. The city wise population of Punjab is given in the next sections of this article.

Smart Cities In Punjab

In August 2015, Urban Development Ministry, Government of India released a list of 98 cities to be developed as smart cities. There are 3 cities from Punjab which are included this list and names of these smart cities, alongwith the total population, are given below:
  1. Ludhiana - Ludhiana is the largest city (by population) of Punjab and its total population is 16,13,878. The city is popular for its hosiery, textile and cycle parts industry and is also called as Manchester of India.
  2. Amritsar - This is the second most populous city of Punjab and has a total population of 11,32,761. Most sacred shrine of sikhs and a world famous tourist places Shri Harmandir Sahib (The Golden Temple) is situated in this city. The famous Wagah Border is also situated at a distance of few kilometers. For more information, check this page about Punjab Tourist Places.
  3. Jalandhar - This is the third most populous city in the state having a total population 8,73,725. The city is famous all over the world for its sports goods manufacturing industry.
For the smart cities mission, Punjab government submitted a list of total 6 cities which also included Mohali, Patiala and Bathinda and out of these six cities, the three cities mentioned above were selected. Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab and a union territory, is also included in this list of smart cities.

Major Cities In Punjab

A list of major cities of Punjab is given in this section. There are 3 cities which have a population of more than 5 lakh and there are 16 cities with a population of above 1 lakh. The list of top 20 cities, in order of their population, is given below:
S/No.Town/CityDistrictPopulation (2011)Urban Body
1LudhianaLudhiana1618879M Corp.
2AmritsarAmritsar1159227M Corp. + OG
3JalandharJalandhar 868929M Corp. + OG
4PatialaPatiala 446246M Corp. + OG
5BathindaBathinda 285788M Corp.
6HoshiarpurHoshiarpur 168653M Corp.
7S.A.S. NagarS.A.S. Nagar 166864M Corp. + OG
8MogaMoga 163397M Corp. + OG
9BatalaGurdaspur 158621M Cl + OG
10PathankotPathankot 156306M Corp. + OG
11 Abohar Fazilka 145302 M Cl
12 Malerkotla Sangrur 135424 M Cl
13 Khanna Ludhiana 128137 M Cl
14 Muktsar Muktsar 116747 M Cl
15 Barnala Barnala 116449 M Cl
16 Firozpur Firozpur 110313 M Cl
17 Kapurthala Kapurthala 98916 M Cl
18 Phagwara Kapurthala 97864 M Corp.
19 Zirakpur S.A.S. Nagar 95553 M Cl
20 Rajpura Patiala 92301 M Cl

List of Cities in Punjab

A list of all the statutary towns is given below. The district, population of the city and the type of urban local body is also given in the table.
Abbrevations Used - a) M Corp. = Municipal Corporation, b) M Cl - Municipal Council, c) NP - Nagar Panchayat, d) CB - Cantonment Board, e) OG - Out Growth
S/No. Town/City District Population (2011) Type
1 Amritsar Amritsar 1159227 M Corp. + OG
2 Jandiala Amritsar 29232 M Cl
3 Ajnala Amritsar 21107 NP
4 Rayya Amritsar 14506 NP
5 Majitha Amritsar 14503 M Cl
6 Raja Sansi Amritsar 14298 NP
7 Ramdas Amritsar 6398 M Cl
8 Barnala Barnala 116449 M Cl
9 Tapa Barnala 23248 M Cl
10 Dhanaula Barnala 19920 M Cl
11 Bhadaur Barnala 18561 M Cl
12 Handiaya Barnala 12507 NP
13 Bathinda Bathinda 285788 M Corp.
14 Rampura Phul Bathinda 51023 M Cl + OG
15 Maur Bathinda 31849 M Cl
16 Raman Bathinda 22553 M Cl
17 Talwandi Sabo Bathinda 20589 NP
18 Mehraj Bathinda 16784 NP
19 Goniana Bathinda 15208 M Cl
20 Bhucho Mandi Bathinda 14961 M Cl
21 Bhai Rupa Bathinda 14841 NP
22 Bhagta Bhai Ka Bathinda 14467 NP
23 Kot Shamir Bathinda 10945 NP
24 Lehra Mohabbat Bathinda 9792 NP
25 Kotha Guru Bathinda 9748 NP
26 Chaoke Bathinda 9354 NP
27 Mandi Kalan Bathinda 9098 NP
28 Rampura Bathinda 8970 NP
29 Balian Wali Bathinda 8194 NP
30 Nathana Bathinda 7738 NP
31 Kot Fatta Bathinda 7412 M Cl
32 Maluka Bathinda 6651 NP
33 Sangat Bathinda 2744 M Cl
34 Kot Kapura Faridkot 91979 M Cl
35 Faridkot Faridkot 87695 M Cl + OG
36 Jaitu Faridkot 37377 M Cl + OG
37 Gobindgarh Fatehgarh Sahib 82266 M Cl + OG
38 Sirhind Fatehgarh Sahib Fatehgarh Sahib 58097 M Cl
39 Bassi Pathana Fatehgarh Sahib 20288 M Cl
40 Amloh Fatehgarh Sahib 14696 M Cl
41 Khamanon Fatehgarh Sahib 10135 NP
42 Abohar Fazilka 145302 M Cl
43 Fazilka Fazilka 76492 M Cl
44 Jalalabad Fazilka 39525 M Cl + OG
45 Arniwala Sheikh Subhan Fazilka 9393 NP
46 Firozpur Firozpur 110313 M Cl
47 Zira Firozpur 37498 M Cl + OG
48 Talwandi Bhai Firozpur 17285 M Cl
49 Guru Har Sahai Firozpur 17192 M Cl
50 Mallanwala Firozpur 16183 NP
51 Makhu Firozpur 14658 NP
52 Mudki Firozpur 10415 NP
53 Mamdot Firozpur 6242 NP
54 Batala Gurdaspur 158621 M Cl + OG
55 Gurdaspur Gurdaspur 77928 M Cl + OG
56 Dina Nagar Gurdaspur 23976 M Cl
57 Qadian Gurdaspur 23632 M Cl + OG
58 Dhariwal Gurdaspur 16772 M Cl
59 Fatehgarh Churian Gurdaspur 13070 M Cl
60 Sri Hargobindpur Gurdaspur 8241 M Cl
61 Dera Baba Nanak Gurdaspur 6394 M Cl
62 Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur 168653 M Corp.
63 Mukerian Hoshiarpur 29841 M Cl
64 Dasua Hoshiarpur 25192 M Cl
65 Urmar Tanda Hoshiarpur 23419 M Cl
66 Talwara Hoshiarpur 19485 NP
67 Garhshankar Hoshiarpur 16955 M Cl
68 Mahilpur Hoshiarpur 11360 NP
69 Hariana Hoshiarpur 8928 M Cl
70 Gardhiwala Hoshiarpur 7593 M Cl
71 Sham Chaurasi Hoshiarpur 4426 M Cl
72 Jalandhar Jalandhar 868929 M Corp. + OG
73 Nakodar Jalandhar 36973 M Cl
74 Kartarpur Jalandhar 25662 M Cl
75 Phillaur Jalandhar 24688 M Cl
76 Adampur Jalandhar 20922 M Cl
77 Bhogpur Jalandhar 17549 NP
78 Goraya Jalandhar 16462 M Cl
79 Nurmahal Jalandhar 14560 M Cl
80 Shahkot Jalandhar 14488 NP
81 Lohian Khass Jalandhar 10362 NP
82 Alawalpur Jalandhar 7815 M Cl
83 Mehatpur Jalandhar 5804 NP
84 Kapurthala Kapurthala 98916 M Cl
85 Phagwara Kapurthala 97864 M Corp.
86 Sultanpur Kapurthala 16877 M Cl
87 Bhulath Kapurthala 10548 NP
88 Begowal Kapurthala 10116 NP
89 Dhilwan Kapurthala 8157 NP
90 Nadala Kapurthala 6733 NP
91 Ludhiana Ludhiana 1618879 M Corp.
92 Khanna Ludhiana 128137 M Cl
93 Jagraon Ludhiana 65240 M Cl
94 Raikot Ludhiana 28734 M Cl
95 Doraha Ludhiana 25424 M Cl
96 Machhiwara Ludhiana 24916 M Cl
97 Sahnewal Ludhiana 22484 NP
98 Samrala Ludhiana 19678 M Cl
99 Mullanpur Dakha Ludhiana 16356 NP
100 Payal Ludhiana 7923 M Cl
101 Malaud Ludhiana 7567 NP
102 Mansa Mansa 82956 M Cl
103 Budhlada Mansa 26172 M Cl
104 Sardulgarh Mansa 19219 NP
105 Bhikhi Mansa 17825 NP
106 Bareta Mansa 17432 M Cl
107 Boha Mansa 12170 NP
108 Joga Mansa 10180 NP
109 Moga Moga 163397 M Corp. + OG
110 Bagha Purana Moga 25206 M Cl
111 Dharamkot Moga 19057 M Cl
112 Kot Ise Khan Moga 12800 NP
113 Nihal Singh Wala Moga 10052 NP
114 Badhni Kalan Moga 6786 NP
115 Muktsar Muktsar 116747 M Cl
116 Malout Muktsar 81406 M Cl
117 Gidderbaha Muktsar 45370 M Cl
118 Bariwala Muktsar 8668 NP
119 Nawanshahr Nawan Shahr 46024 M Cl
120 Balachaur Nawan Shahr 21631 M Cl
121 Banga Nawan Shahr 20906 M Cl
122 Rahon Nawan Shahr 15676 M Cl
123 Pathankot Pathankot 156306 M Corp. + OG
124 Sujanpur Pathankot 28270 M Cl
125 Patiala Patiala 446246 M Corp. + OG
126 Rajpura Patiala 92301 M Cl
127 Nabha Patiala 67972 M Cl
128 Samana Patiala 54072 M Cl
129 Patran Patiala 27963 M Cl
130 Sanaur Patiala 21201 M Cl
131 Ghagga Patiala 10162 NP
132 Bhadson Patiala 7260 NP
133 Ghanaur Patiala 6985 NP
134 Rupnagar Rup Nagar 56038 M Cl
135 Nangal Rup Nagar 48497 M Cl + OG
136 Morinda Rup Nagar 24022 M Cl
137 Anandpur Sahib Rup Nagar 16282 M Cl
138 Chamkaur Sahib Rup Nagar 13920 NP
139 Nurpur Bedi Rup Nagar 4503 NP
140 Kiratpur Sahib Rup Nagar 2348 NP
141 S.A.S. Nagar S.A.S. Nagar 166864 M Corp. + OG
142 Zirakpur S.A.S. Nagar 95553 M Cl
143 Kharar S.A.S. Nagar 74460 M Cl
144 Naya Gaon S.A.S. Nagar 50869 NP
145 Kurali S.A.S. Nagar 31060 M Cl
146 Dera Bassi S.A.S. Nagar 26295 M Cl
147 Lalru S.A.S. Nagar 21394 NP
148 Banur S.A.S. Nagar 18775 M Cl
149 Malerkotla Sangrur 135424 M Cl
150 Sangrur Sangrur 88043 M Cl
151 Sunam Udham Singh Wala Sangrur 69069 M Cl + OG
152 Dhuri Sangrur 55225 M Cl
153 Ahmedgarh Sangrur 31302 M Cl
154 Longowal Sangrur 23851 M Cl
155 Lehragaga Sangrur 22588 M Cl
156 Bhawanigarh Sangrur 22320 M Cl
157 Moonak Sangrur 18141 NP
158 Dirba Sangrur 16952 NP
159 Khanauri Sangrur 14096 NP
160 Cheema Sangrur 11615 NP
161 Amargarh Sangrur 7339 NP
162 Tarn Taran Tarn Taran 66847 M Cl
163 Patti Tarn Taran 40976 M Cl
164 Bhikhiwind Tarn Taran 20526 NP
165 Khem Karan Tarn Taran 13446 NP
166 Amritsar Cantt. Amritsar 10410 CB
167 Firozpur Cantt Firozpur 53199 CB
168 Jalandhar Cantt. Jalandhar 47845 CB


List of Census Towns

There are total 69 census towns in Punjab. According to census 2011 data, there were 74 such towns, out of these five towns namely Amargarh, Bhikhiwind, Kot Ise Khan, Lalru and Talwara have been notified as Nagar Panchayats. The list of all the census towns is given below (the serial number is continued from 168, the number of notified towns as given in above list):
S/No.Town/CityDistrictPopulation (2011)Type
169NangliAmritsar20440CT
170Budha ThehAmritsar 10979CT
171KathanianAmritsar 10679CT
172Baba BakalaAmritsar 8946CT
173ChogawanAmritsar 5416CT
174KhilchianAmritsar 4588CT
175MudalAmritsar 3882CT
176MehnaBathinda 27733CT
177BhisianaBathinda 4890CT
178KorianwaliFazilka 5770CT
179SatyewalaFirozpur 8724CT
180TibriGurdaspur 11845CT
181Fateh NangalGurdaspur 7721CT
182BehrampurGurdaspur 5432CT
183ShikarGurdaspur 4001CT
184BaryarGurdaspur 3520CT
185ChohalHoshiarpur 7304CT
186HazipurHoshiarpur 6091CT
187RakriHoshiarpur 5722CT
188SufipindJalandhar 9406CT
189JandialaJalandhar 8487CT
190Sarai KhasJalandhar 7044CT
191ApraJalandhar 6258CT
192DhinJalandhar 5961CT
193KhambraJalandhar 5483CT
194SansarpurJalandhar 4657CT
195 Raipur Rasulpur Jalandhar 3916 CT
196 Chomon Jalandhar 3704 CT
197 Phagwara Sharki Kapurthala 20102 CT
198 Hussainpur Kapurthala 15575 CT
199 Chachoki Kapurthala 4307 CT
200 Gill Ludhiana 28884 CT
201 Bhamian Kalan Ludhiana 13174 CT
202 Tharike Ludhiana 12294 CT
203 Bhattian Ludhiana 11066 CT
204 Partap Singhwala Ludhiana 10843 CT
205 Halwara Ludhiana 9761 CT
206 Akalgarh Ludhiana 7678 CT
207 Baddowal Ludhiana 6825 CT
208 Jodhan Ludhiana 3845 CT
209 Rail Nawan Shahr 7589 CT
210 Khothran Nawan Shahr 5046 CT
211 Saloh Nawan Shahr 4481 CT
212 Aur Nawan Shahr 4063 CT
213 Mamun Pathankot 32689 CT
214 Jugial Pathankot 15210 CT
215 Daulatpur Pathankot 12988 CT
216 Narot Mehra Pathankot 8885 CT
217 Ghoh Pathankot 6883 CT
218 Manwal Pathankot 6496 CT
219 Sarna Pathankot 5847 CT
220 Kot Pathankot 5406 CT
221 Bungal Pathankot 5257 CT
222 Tharial Pathankot 5081 CT
223 Malikpur Pathankot 4645 CT
224 Dhaki Pathankot 4203 CT
225 Rurki Kasba Patiala 10509 CT
226 Alhoran Patiala 10218 CT
227 Nilpur Patiala 8391 CT
228 Nehon Rup Nagar 9439 CT
229 Ghanauli Rup Nagar 4894 CT
230 Kotla Nihang Rup Nagar 4715 CT
231 Balongi S.A.S. Nagar 15982 CT
232 Bhankharpur S.A.S. Nagar 10768 CT
233 Sohana S.A.S. Nagar 9306 CT
234 Mullanpur Garib Dass S.A.S. Nagar 6165 CT
235 Mirpur S.A.S. Nagar 5967 CT
236 Daper S.A.S. Nagar 5936 CT
237 Mubarakpur S.A.S. Nagar 5217 CT