The process of urban expansion is a dominant phenomenon in South Maharashtra, which has been accelerated
by increasing levels of urbanization facilitated by marked developments in transportation, industrialization
and tourism. The other determinant is sprawl that includes high population growth on account of migration
and establishment of growing network of public utilities. Kolhapur is largest urban centre of south Maharashtra and
experiencing considerable high population growth. The present study based on the secondary sources of data mainly
collected from the Census of India, intends to look into the growth and distribution of population in Kolhapur city
located in the Sothern part of Maharashtra state. For computing the annual population growth Gibbs method is used
and for predicting the population of Kolhapur city Mandal’s formula is employed. Ward-wise distribution of population
has also highlighted. During the last more than a century period (1901-2011) population augmented due to high natural
growth rate and migration. The better livelihood opportunities in the city have attributed to the rapid expansion of
Kolhapur urban centre. After independence, the growth rate of population of Kolhapur City was high, but during 1941
to 1951 it was found very high (47.08%). The wards like Vicharemal, Daulatnagar, Kholkhandoba, Padmaraje Udyan, Yadav
Nagar and Sukrawargate wherein slums are also found having population density above 600 per hectare.