1955 Population

In 1955, the world’s population was approximately 2.77 billion people, reflecting a period of rapid growth following World War II. Asia was the most populous continent, home to over 1.4 billion people, with China and India together accounting for nearly 900 million. Europe had around 550 million inhabitants, with the Soviet Union, Germany, and the United Kingdom among its most populous countries. Africa’s population was about 220 million, concentrated in countries like Egypt and Nigeria. North America’s population approached 200 million, dominated by the United States (about 166 million) and Canada. Latin America and the Caribbean had roughly 170 million people, with Brazil and Mexico as demographic leaders. Oceania, including Australia and New Zealand, remained sparsely populated with fewer than 15 million residents. This demographic landscape set the stage for the unprecedented global population boom in the latter half of the 20th century.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	607,046,049	65.1
2	India	404,267,590	136
3	United States	165,069,000	18
4	Russia	111,125,498	6.8
5	Indonesia	90,254,984	49.8
6	Japan	89,815,060	246.4
7	Germany	70,195,612	201.3
8	Brazil	61,651,450	7.4
9	United Kingdom	50,946,000	210.6
10	Bangladesh	49,588,403	381
11	Italy	48,633,000	165.3
12	Pakistan	45,535,711	59.1
13	France	44,242,164	69.1
14	Ukraine	39,368,099	68
15	Nigeria	35,954,557	39.5
16	Mexico	32,929,914	16.9
17	Spain	29,318,745	58.8
18	Vietnam	27,738,063	89.5
19	Poland	27,220,668	89.5
20	Philippines	24,335,325	81.6
21	Turkey	24,144,571	31.4
22	Egypt	23,855,527	24
23	Thailand	23,451,316	45.9
24	Ethiopia	21,990,323	20.1
25	South Korea	21,551,834	222.4
26	Burma	21,049,927	32.2
27	Argentina	18,927,821	6.9
28	Iran	18,738,871	12.2
29	Romania	17,325,000	75.4
30	Canada	16,050,356	1.8
31	South Africa	15,368,551	12.7
32	Congo Kinshasa	14,952,568	6.6
33	Colombia	13,588,405	13.1
34	Morocco	10,797,549	15.1
35	Netherlands	10,758,334	317.4
36	Algeria	9,841,851	4.1
37	Hungary	9,825,000	109.6
38	Taiwan	9,485,858	294
39	Nepal	9,479,233	66.1
40	Czechia	9,365,969	121.2
41	Australia	9,277,087	1.2
42	Tanzania	8,970,610	10.1
43	Afghanistan	8,891,209	13.6
44	Belgium	8,868,475	292.9
45	North Korea	8,863,100	73.6
46	Sri Lanka	8,693,779	134.5
47	Portugal	8,692,600	95
48	Peru	8,671,500	6.8
49	Kazakhstan	7,976,879	3
50	Greece	7,965,538	61
51	Belarus	7,780,565	38.3
52	Bulgaria	7,499,400	69.1
53	Sudan	7,390,764	4
54	Malaysia	7,311,720	22.2
55	Sweden	7,262,388	17.7
56	Uzbekistan	7,232,067	17
57	Kenya	7,033,999	12.4
58	Austria	6,946,885	84.3
59	Mozambique	6,781,616	8.6
60	Chile	6,743,269	9.1
61	Cuba	6,381,106	58.1
62	Uganda	6,317,454	32.1
63	Serbia	6,313,411	81.5
64	Venezuela	6,170,497	7
65	Ghana	6,048,606	26.6
66	Iraq	5,903,253	13.5
67	Yemen	5,265,327	10
68	Cameroon	5,210,832	11
69	Cambodia	5,048,797	28.6
70	Madagascar	5,002,657	8.6
71	Switzerland	4,980,000	124.5
72	Burkina Faso	4,614,490	16.9
73	Denmark	4,439,000	104.6
74	Angola	4,423,223	3.5
75	Saudi Arabia	4,243,218	2
76	Finland	4,234,900	13.9
77	Mali	4,066,154	3.3
78	Croatia	3,955,526	70.7
79	Syria	3,937,503	21.2
80	Tunisia	3,846,014	24.8
81	Ecuador	3,842,399	13.9
82	Georgia	3,827,154	54.9
83	Slovakia	3,726,601	77.5
84	Niger	3,559,494	2.8
85	Guatemala	3,487,032	32.5
86	Norway	3,427,409	11.3
87	Zimbabwe	3,409,017	8.8
88	Haiti	3,364,562	122.1
89	Azerbaijan	3,313,718	40.1
90	Côte d'Ivoire	3,164,270	10
91	Malawi	3,088,155	32.8
92	Bolivia	3,074,311	2.8
93	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2,974,000	58.1
94	Senegal	2,926,863	15.2
95	Ireland	2,916,133	42.3
96	Zambia	2,869,000	3.9
97	Chad	2,818,379	2.2
98	Guinea	2,786,879	11.3
99	South Sudan	2,756,806	4.3
100	Dominican Republic	2,737,257	56.6
101	Rwanda	2,698,272	109.4
102	Somalia	2,673,425	4.3
103	Moldova	2,622,424	79.7
104	Lithuania	2,614,336	41.7
105	Burundi	2,576,249	100.3
106	Hong Kong	2,490,400	2,321
107	Uruguay	2,353,136	13.4
108	Puerto Rico	2,250,000	253.7
109	Sierra Leone	2,232,573	31.2
110	El Salvador	2,221,139	107.2
111	New Zealand	2,136,168	8.1
112	Laos	2,077,063	9
113	Latvia	2,002,111	32.2
114	Kyrgyzstan	1,901,498	9.9
115	Benin	1,850,718	16.7
116	Tajikistan	1,780,850	12.6
117	Israel	1,770,682	82.4
118	Paraguay	1,683,477	4.2
119	Honduras	1,662,219	14.9
120	Armenia	1,565,329	55.5
121	Lebanon	1,560,985	152.6
122	Papua New Guinea	1,545,070	3.4
123	Slovenia	1,517,499	75.3
124	Eritrea	1,498,684	14.8
125	Jamaica	1,488,805	137.5
126	Albania	1,392,164	50.8
127	Central African Republic	1,348,342	2.2
128	Turkmenistan	1,347,774	2.9
129	North Macedonia	1,340,031	52.7
130	Singapore	1,305,500	1,841.3
131	Togo	1,298,389	23.9
132	Nicaragua	1,277,288	10.6
133	Estonia	1,154,371	27.2
134	Libya	1,122,475	0.6
135	Mauritania	1,053,003	1
136	Costa Rica	1,031,782	20.2
137	Panama	1,010,655	13.6
138	Liberia	928,269	9.6
139	Congo Brazzaville	903,672	2.6
140	Kosovo	853,540	78.4
141	Mongolia	844,046	0.5
142	West Bank	788,042	139.7
143	Lesotho	786,192	25.9
144	Trinidad and Tobago	720,800	140.6
145	Jordan	688,372	7.8
146	Guinea-Bissau	591,909	21
147	Mauritius	571,669	281.6
148	Oman	539,924	1.7
149	Cyprus	532,750	57.7
150	Namibia	521,903	0.6
151	Guyana	491,180	2.5
152	Timor-Leste	472,195	31.7
153	Botswana	461,100	0.8
154	Montenegro	431,658	32.1
155	Gabon	428,772	1.7
156	Fiji	332,185	18.2
157	Malta	314,369	994.8
158	Eswatini	311,346	18.1
159	The Gambia	306,390	30.3
160	Luxembourg	304,777	117.9
161	Gaza Strip	265,759	738.2
162	Suriname	240,403	1.5
163	Barbados	227,255	528.5
164	Equatorial Guinea	225,899	8.1
165	Macau	192,684	6,881.6
166	Kuwait	186,639	10.5
167	Bhutan	186,282	4.9
168	Cabo Verde	169,146	41.9
169	Comoros	163,711	73.2
170	Iceland	158,044	1.6
171	Bahrain	130,253	171.4
172	Solomon Islands	114,495	4.1
173	Curaçao	111,936	252.1
174	Samoa	93,857	33.3
175	Djibouti	90,367	3.9
176	The Bahamas	87,138	8.7
177	Saint Lucia	85,840	141.7
178	Grenada	84,621	246
179	United Arab Emirates	82,715	1
180	Maldives	80,121	268.9
181	Belize	76,892	3.4
182	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	75,468	194
183	French Polynesia	71,900	18.8
184	Guam	68,700	126.3
185	New Caledonia	64,948	3.6
186	Brunei	60,983	11.6
187	Sao Tome and Principe	60,227	62.5
188	Jersey	59,850	515.9
189	Vanuatu	58,622	4.8
190	Dominica	56,574	75.3
191	Tonga	54,465	76
192	Aruba	53,865	299.2
193	Antigua and Barbuda	51,046	115.2
194	Isle of Man	51,025	89.2
195	Saint Kitts and Nevis	49,700	190.4
196	Guernsey	46,161	591.8
197	Bermuda	41,459	767.8
198	Kiribati	36,911	45.5
199	Seychelles	35,873	78.8
200	Federated States of Micronesia	35,821	51
201	Qatar	35,102	3
202	Faroe Islands	32,600	23.4
203	U.S. Virgin Islands	27,600	79.3
204	Greenland	26,600	0
205	Gibraltar	23,643	3,377.6
206	American Samoa	19,800	100
207	Monaco	18,284	9,142
208	Cook Islands	16,235	68.8
209	Liechtenstein	14,700	91.9
210	San Marino	13,827	226.7
211	Marshall Islands	12,840	70.9
212	Montserrat	12,766	125.2
213	Palau	8,292	18.1
214	Northern Mariana Islands	7,473	15.8
215	Wallis and Futuna	7,411	52.2
216	Cayman Islands	6,955	26.3
217	British Virgin Islands	6,603	43.7
218	Andorra	6,189	13.2
219	Anguilla	5,430	59.7
220	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	5,261	13.4
221	Turks and Caicos Islands	5,162	5.4
222	Tuvalu	4,961	190.8
223	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	4,686	19.4
224	Nauru	3,676	175
225	Saint Martin	3,503	64.9
226	Sint Maarten	2,484	73.1
227	Saint Barthelemy	2,092	83.7

Data from US Census International Database