1959 Population

In 1959, the world’s population was approximately 3 billion people, marking a period of rapid post-war growth. Asia was by far the most populous continent, home to about 1.7 billion people, with China (around 650 million) and India (about 430 million) as the two largest countries. Europe had roughly 600 million residents, with the Soviet Union, Germany, and the United Kingdom among its most populous nations. Africa’s population was around 280 million, concentrated in countries like Egypt and Nigeria. The Americas together had about 450 million people, with the United States (approximately 177 million) and Brazil (around 72 million) leading in population. Oceania, including Australia and the Pacific Islands, had a much smaller share, with fewer than 20 million inhabitants. Urbanization was accelerating, but the majority of people globally still lived in rural areas, especially in Asia and Africa.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	654,963,768	70.2
2	India	436,627,859	146.9
3	United States	177,135,000	19.4
4	Russia	117,956,865	7.2
5	Indonesia	97,995,942	54.1
6	Japan	93,296,566	256
7	Germany	72,013,853	206.5
8	Brazil	69,332,977	8.3
9	Bangladesh	53,459,151	410.7
10	United Kingdom	51,956,000	214.8
11	Pakistan	50,386,898	65.4
12	Italy	49,832,000	169.4
13	France	46,155,514	72.1
14	Ukraine	42,006,030	72.5
15	Nigeria	40,367,758	44.3
16	Mexico	37,328,466	19.2
17	Vietnam	30,682,902	99
18	Spain	30,372,877	60.9
19	Poland	29,152,334	95.8
20	Turkey	27,355,811	35.5
21	Philippines	27,244,982	91.4
22	Thailand	26,667,243	52.2
23	Egypt	26,219,800	26.3
24	South Korea	23,981,313	247.4
25	Ethiopia	23,702,450	21.6
26	Burma	22,458,612	34.4
27	Iran	20,977,886	13.7
28	Argentina	20,281,150	7.4
29	Romania	18,225,830	79.3
30	Canada	17,872,034	2
31	South Africa	16,974,984	14
32	Congo Kinshasa	16,253,014	7.2
33	Colombia	15,446,730	14.9
34	Morocco	12,099,235	16.9
35	Netherlands	11,355,382	335
36	Taiwan	10,852,996	336.4
37	Algeria	10,696,396	4.5
38	Australia	10,131,729	1.3
39	North Korea	10,102,672	83.9
40	Tanzania	9,978,909	11.3
41	Hungary	9,937,000	110.9
42	Nepal	9,906,107	69.1
43	Peru	9,657,800	7.5
44	Sri Lanka	9,639,588	149.2
45	Afghanistan	9,624,606	14.8
46	Czechia	9,618,554	124.5
47	Kazakhstan	9,499,911	3.5
48	Belgium	9,103,729	300.7
49	Portugal	8,961,550	98
50	Greece	8,258,162	63.2
51	Sudan	8,223,687	4.4
52	Uzbekistan	8,223,106	19.3
53	Malaysia	8,195,711	24.9
54	Belarus	8,075,290	39.8
55	Kenya	7,912,591	13.9
56	Bulgaria	7,797,777	71.9
57	Sweden	7,446,249	18.1
58	Chile	7,399,842	9.9
59	Mozambique	7,321,327	9.3
60	Venezuela	7,267,687	8.2
61	Uganda	7,059,486	35.8
62	Austria	7,014,331	85.1
63	Cuba	6,900,886	62.8
64	Ghana	6,761,280	29.7
65	Iraq	6,624,713	15.1
66	Serbia	6,589,675	85.1
67	Yemen	5,743,926	10.9
68	Cambodia	5,611,117	31.8
69	Cameroon	5,522,218	11.7
70	Madagascar	5,377,583	9.2
71	Switzerland	5,259,000	131.5
72	Burkina Faso	4,814,463	17.6
73	Angola	4,714,676	3.8
74	Saudi Arabia	4,613,822	2.1
75	Denmark	4,546,636	107.1
76	Mali	4,396,739	3.6
77	Finland	4,394,700	14.5
78	Syria	4,393,189	23.6
79	Ecuador	4,291,418	15.5
80	Tunisia	4,074,970	26.2
81	Georgia	4,071,078	58.4
82	Croatia	4,020,631	71.8
83	Guatemala	3,969,595	37
84	Slovakia	3,946,039	82
85	Zimbabwe	3,886,947	10
86	Niger	3,835,954	3
87	Azerbaijan	3,740,596	45.3
88	Haiti	3,625,271	131.5
89	Norway	3,552,851	11.7
90	Côte d'Ivoire	3,463,050	10.9
91	Malawi	3,370,054	35.8
92	Bolivia	3,357,701	3.1
93	Senegal	3,194,821	16.6
94	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3,185,000	62.2
95	Zambia	3,173,000	4.3
96	Dominican Republic	3,125,752	64.7
97	Chad	3,016,495	2.4
98	Guinea	2,970,766	12.1
99	Hong Kong	2,967,400	2,765.5
100	Rwanda	2,958,761	119.9
101	Moldova	2,919,316	88.8
102	Somalia	2,895,391	4.6
103	Ireland	2,843,041	41.3
104	South Sudan	2,798,128	4.3
105	Burundi	2,763,722	107.6
106	Lithuania	2,717,677	43.4
107	El Salvador	2,503,149	120.8
108	Uruguay	2,495,022	14.3
109	Sierra Leone	2,361,885	33
110	New Zealand	2,331,122	8.8
111	Puerto Rico	2,322,000	261.8
112	Laos	2,260,773	9.8
113	Kyrgyzstan	2,095,631	10.9
114	Latvia	2,088,934	33.6
115	Israel	2,078,739	96.7
116	Benin	2,019,076	18.3
117	Tajikistan	2,009,483	14.2
118	Honduras	1,888,715	16.9
119	Paraguay	1,862,301	4.7
120	Armenia	1,796,363	63.7
121	Lebanon	1,738,617	170
122	Papua New Guinea	1,680,027	3.7
123	Jamaica	1,599,115	147.6
124	Eritrea	1,589,868	15.7
125	Singapore	1,587,200	2,238.6
126	Albania	1,571,329	57.4
127	Slovenia	1,548,561	76.8
128	Turkmenistan	1,530,083	3.3
129	Nicaragua	1,446,333	12.1
130	Central African Republic	1,441,243	2.3
131	Togo	1,421,772	26.1
132	North Macedonia	1,353,539	53.2
133	Libya	1,290,121	0.7
134	Costa Rica	1,200,148	23.5
135	Estonia	1,197,418	28.2
136	Panama	1,115,146	15
137	Mauritania	1,103,409	1.1
138	Liberia	1,027,507	10.7
139	Congo Brazzaville	980,700	2.9
140	Mongolia	928,632	0.6
141	Kosovo	928,165	85.3
142	Lesotho	842,730	27.8
143	Trinidad and Tobago	817,050	159.3
144	Jordan	815,562	9.2
145	West Bank	801,809	142.2
146	Mauritius	645,313	317.9
147	Guinea-Bissau	611,217	21.7
148	Oman	587,639	1.9
149	Namibia	576,077	0.7
150	Cyprus	572,306	61.9
151	Guyana	554,471	2.8
152	Timor-Leste	501,527	33.7
153	Botswana	489,080	0.9
154	Montenegro	454,949	33.8
155	Gabon	442,007	1.7
156	Fiji	379,819	20.8
157	Eswatini	343,201	19.9
158	The Gambia	341,818	33.8
159	Malta	324,842	1,028
160	Luxembourg	312,129	120.7
161	Gaza Strip	299,189	831.1
162	Suriname	274,666	1.8
163	Kuwait	262,006	14.7
164	Equatorial Guinea	240,163	8.6
165	Barbados	231,394	538.1
166	Bhutan	206,619	5.4
167	Cabo Verde	190,769	47.3
168	Macau	187,499	6,696.4
169	Comoros	178,754	80
170	Iceland	172,314	1.7
171	Bahrain	149,769	197.1
172	Solomon Islands	123,166	4.4
173	Curaçao	121,359	273.3
174	The Bahamas	106,931	10.7
175	Samoa	106,412	37.7
176	Djibouti	105,993	4.6
177	United Arab Emirates	97,870	1.2
178	Maldives	89,290	299.6
179	Grenada	89,239	259.4
180	Belize	88,641	3.9
181	Saint Lucia	87,645	144.6
182	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	79,799	205.1
183	French Polynesia	79,600	20.8
184	Brunei	78,540	14.9
185	New Caledonia	75,790	4.1
186	Guam	67,800	124.6
187	Vanuatu	64,522	5.3
188	Sao Tome and Principe	62,507	64.8
189	Jersey	62,262	536.7
190	Tonga	61,811	86.2
191	Dominica	59,476	79.2
192	Aruba	56,518	314
193	Antigua and Barbuda	54,149	122.2
194	Saint Kitts and Nevis	52,258	200.2
195	Isle of Man	48,339	84.5
196	Guernsey	46,723	599
197	Bermuda	43,682	808.9
198	Qatar	42,581	3.7
199	Federated States of Micronesia	40,511	57.7
200	Seychelles	40,365	88.7
201	Kiribati	39,938	49.2
202	Faroe Islands	34,500	24.8
203	Greenland	31,200	0
204	U.S. Virgin Islands	31,000	89.1
205	Gibraltar	24,106	3,443.7
206	American Samoa	20,400	103
207	Monaco	20,183	10,091.5
208	Cook Islands	17,447	73.9
209	Liechtenstein	15,900	99.4
210	San Marino	15,007	246
211	Marshall Islands	14,634	80.9
212	Montserrat	12,255	120.1
213	Palau	9,231	20.1
214	Northern Mariana Islands	8,571	18.2
215	Wallis and Futuna	7,791	54.9
216	Cayman Islands	7,486	28.4
217	Andorra	7,239	15.5
218	British Virgin Islands	7,198	47.7
219	Turks and Caicos Islands	5,624	5.9
220	Anguilla	5,604	61.6
221	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	5,304	13.5
222	Tuvalu	5,202	200.1
223	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	4,872	20.1
224	Nauru	4,264	203
225	Saint Martin	4,111	76.1
226	Sint Maarten	2,659	78.2
227	Saint Barthelemy	2,145	85.8

Data from US Census International Database