Istres Population and Area (Bouches-du-Rhône)
Largest city in France 2026: up-to-date figures for Istres (Bouches-du-Rhône)
Istres: Population and Area
With 44,953 inhabitants (INSEE total population in force on January 1, 2026), Istres is the 165th most populous town in France in 2026 and the 6th most populous in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, out of 119 communes. It covers 114 km² (177th largest area in France, 6th largest in the department), with a population density of 395 inhabitants per km², or 3.6 times the national average (110 inhabitants/km²), which ranks it 2,287th in France for density.
Istres is located in the Bouches-du-Rhône department (13), in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, where it ranks 16th by population out of 946 communes. The most populous town in the Bouches-du-Rhône department is Marseille (892,391 inhabitants); the department is home to 2,112,170 people over 5,087 km².
See the full ranking of communes in the Bouches-du-Rhône department and the regional ranking: largest city in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
Towns of similar size in the Bouches-du-Rhône department: Arles (pop. 52,515), Martigues (pop. 48,807), Aubagne (pop. 47,920), Salon-de-Provence (pop. 44,736), La Ciotat (pop. 38,868), Vitrolles (pop. 37,134).
Sources: INSEE, official population figures in force on January 1, 2026 (total population); areas: IGN / Observatoire des territoires; INSEE code 13047. Rankings are calculated across the 34,858 communes of metropolitan and overseas France in our database.