consequent shift of people to those areas. The Lower Saxon State Office for Statistics has forecast that the town of L�neburg will have a population of 89,484 by the year 2021. More realistic estimates, however, put the future size L�neburg at between 75,000 to 79,000 in that time frame.
On 31 December 2008, according to the Statistics Office, the official census for L�neburg recorded 72,492 people (those who had their main residence in the town and after adjustments with other states offices) � the highest number in its history. In addition L�neburg has particularly close relations with its adjacent municipalities which are also growing and with which it is forming an agglomeration. The town, together with the nearby villages of Adendorf, Bardowick, Deutsch Evern, Reppenstedt, V�gelsen and Wendisch Evern has a total population of about 103,000 and would be on the way to being a city in the modern sense (i.e. in Germany cities or Gro�st�dte are defined as settlements with a population of over 100,000). Currently L�neburg is the eleventh largest centre of population in Lower Saxony.
The following overview shows the population figures based on the situation at the time. Up to 1813 they were mostly estimates; thereafter based on censuses (*) or official projections by the State Office of Statistics. From 1871 the figures were based on those 'present in the town', from 1925 on those 'living in the town' and since 1987 on the 'population who have their main residence in the town'. Before 1871 the numbers were based on inconsistent survey methods
