1950 Population

In 1950, the world’s population was approximately 2.5 billion people, marking the early stages of the post-World War II population boom. Asia was by far the most populous continent, home to over 1.4 billion people, with China (about 554 million) and India (around 376 million) as the two most populous countries. Europe had roughly 547 million inhabitants, still recovering from wartime losses, while Africa’s population was about 229 million, and North America (including the United States and Canada) had around 172 million. Latin America and the Caribbean counted approximately 167 million people, and Oceania’s population was just over 13 million. Urbanization was much lower than today, with most people living in rural areas, and only a handful of cities—such as New York, London, and Tokyo—had populations exceeding 5 million.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	562,579,779	60.3
2	India	369,880,000	124.4
3	United States	151,868,000	16.6
4	Russia	101,936,816	6.2
5	Japan	83,805,000	229.9
6	Indonesia	82,978,392	45.8
7	Germany	68,374,572	196.1
8	Brazil	53,443,075	6.4
9	United Kingdom	50,127,000	207.2
10	Italy	47,105,000	160.1
11	Bangladesh	45,645,964	350.7
12	France	42,539,287	66.4
13	Pakistan	40,382,206	52.4
14	Ukraine	36,774,854	63.5
15	Nigeria	31,796,939	34.9
16	Mexico	28,485,180	14.7
17	Spain	28,062,963	56.2
18	Vietnam	25,348,144	81.7
19	Poland	24,824,000	81.6
20	Egypt	21,197,691	21.3
21	Philippines	21,131,264	70.9
22	Turkey	21,121,639	27.4
23	South Korea	20,845,771	215.1
24	Ethiopia	20,174,562	18.4
25	Thailand	20,041,628	39.2
26	Burma	19,487,657	29.8
27	Argentina	17,150,336	6.3
28	Iran	16,357,000	10.7
29	Romania	16,311,000	71
30	Canada	14,011,422	1.5
31	South Africa	13,595,840	11.2
32	Congo Kinshasa	13,568,762	6
33	Colombia	11,591,658	11.2
34	Netherlands	10,120,705	298.6
35	North Korea	9,471,140	78.7
36	Morocco	9,343,384	13
37	Hungary	9,338,000	104.2
38	Nepal	8,989,915	62.7
39	Czechia	8,925,122	115.5
40	Algeria	8,892,718	3.7
41	Belgium	8,639,369	285.3
42	Portugal	8,442,750	92.3
43	Australia	8,267,337	1.1
44	Afghanistan	8,150,368	12.5
45	Taiwan	7,981,454	247.4
46	Tanzania	7,934,924	9
47	Belarus	7,722,155	38.1
48	Peru	7,632,500	6
49	Greece	7,566,028	57.9
50	Sri Lanka	7,533,097	116.6
51	Bulgaria	7,250,500	66.8
52	Sweden	7,014,005	17.1
53	Austria	6,935,100	84.1
54	Kazakhstan	6,693,230	2.5
55	Sudan	6,467,221	3.5
56	Malaysia	6,433,799	19.6
57	Uzbekistan	6,292,797	14.8
58	Mozambique	6,250,443	7.9
59	Kenya	6,121,184	10.8
60	Chile	6,090,833	8.2
61	Serbia	5,956,000	76.9
62	Cuba	5,784,797	52.7
63	Uganda	5,521,758	28
64	Ghana	5,297,454	23.3
65	Iraq	5,163,443	11.8
66	Venezuela	5,009,006	5.7
67	Cameroon	4,887,591	10.3
68	Yemen	4,777,089	9
69	Switzerland	4,694,000	117.4
70	Madagascar	4,620,437	7.9
71	Cambodia	4,471,170	25.3
72	Burkina Faso	4,376,162	16
73	Denmark	4,271,000	100.7
74	Angola	4,117,617	3.3
75	Finland	4,008,900	13.2
76	Saudi Arabia	3,859,801	1.8
77	Croatia	3,837,297	68.6
78	Mali	3,687,654	3
79	Tunisia	3,517,210	22.6
80	Georgia	3,515,602	50.4
81	Syria	3,495,000	18.8
82	Slovakia	3,463,446	72
83	Ecuador	3,369,955	12.2
84	Niger	3,271,073	2.6
85	Norway	3,265,126	10.7
86	Haiti	3,097,220	112.4
87	Guatemala	2,968,976	27.7
88	Ireland	2,963,018	43
89	Azerbaijan	2,885,332	34.9
90	Côte d'Ivoire	2,860,288	9
91	Zimbabwe	2,853,151	7.4
92	Malawi	2,816,600	29.9
93	Bolivia	2,766,028	2.6
94	South Sudan	2,706,009	4.2
95	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2,662,000	52
96	Senegal	2,653,637	13.8
97	Chad	2,607,769	2.1
98	Guinea	2,585,509	10.5
99	Lithuania	2,553,159	40.7
100	Zambia	2,553,000	3.4
101	Rwanda	2,439,435	98.9
102	Somalia	2,437,932	3.9
103	Burundi	2,362,522	92
104	Dominican Republic	2,352,968	48.7
105	Moldova	2,336,432	71
106	Hong Kong	2,237,000	2,084.8
107	Puerto Rico	2,218,000	250.1
108	Uruguay	2,194,275	12.5
109	Sierra Leone	2,087,055	29.1
110	El Salvador	1,939,800	93.6
111	Latvia	1,936,498	31.1
112	New Zealand	1,908,310	7.2
113	Laos	1,885,984	8.2
114	Kyrgyzstan	1,738,961	9.1
115	Benin	1,672,661	15.1
116	Tajikistan	1,530,047	10.8
117	Paraguay	1,475,669	3.7
118	Slovenia	1,467,759	72.8
119	Honduras	1,431,447	12.8
120	Papua New Guinea	1,412,466	3.1
121	Eritrea	1,402,510	13.9
122	Jamaica	1,384,550	127.8
123	Lebanon	1,364,030	133.3
124	Armenia	1,355,269	48.1
125	Israel	1,286,131	59.8
126	Central African Republic	1,259,816	2
127	Albania	1,227,156	44.8
128	North Macedonia	1,224,627	48.2
129	Turkmenistan	1,204,075	2.6
130	Togo	1,171,897	21.5
131	Nicaragua	1,097,916	9.2
132	Estonia	1,095,610	25.8
133	Singapore	1,022,100	1,441.6
134	Mauritania	1,005,595	1
135	Libya	961,305	0.5
136	Panama	892,502	12
137	Costa Rica	866,982	17
138	Congo Brazzaville	826,308	2.4
139	Liberia	823,885	8.6
140	Mongolia	778,555	0.5
141	West Bank	771,165	136.7
142	Kosovo	761,000	69.9
143	Lesotho	726,182	23.9
144	Trinidad and Tobago	632,000	123.2
145	Guinea-Bissau	573,268	20.4
146	Jordan	561,254	6.3
147	Cyprus	494,000	53.5
148	Oman	488,588	1.6
149	Mauritius	481,270	237.1
150	Namibia	463,729	0.6
151	Timor-Leste	435,529	29.3
152	Botswana	430,413	0.8
153	Guyana	427,971	2.2
154	Gabon	415,767	1.6
155	Montenegro	395,587	29.4
156	Malta	311,973	987.3
157	Luxembourg	295,587	114.3
158	Fiji	287,348	15.7
159	Eswatini	277,384	16.1
160	The Gambia	271,369	26.8
161	Gaza Strip	245,375	681.6
162	Equatorial Guinea	211,204	7.5
163	Barbados	210,666	489.9
164	Suriname	208,068	1.3
165	Macau	205,442	7,337.2
166	Bhutan	163,786	4.3
167	Comoros	148,057	66.2
168	Cabo Verde	146,403	36.3
169	Kuwait	144,774	8.1
170	Iceland	142,938	1.4
171	Bahrain	114,840	151.1
172	Solomon Islands	106,647	3.8
173	Curaçao	101,179	227.9
174	Samoa	81,858	29
175	Maldives	79,293	266.1
176	Djibouti	79,248	3.4
177	Saint Lucia	79,050	130.4
178	Grenada	75,806	220.4
179	United Arab Emirates	71,520	0.9
180	The Bahamas	70,498	7
181	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	66,452	170.8
182	Belize	65,797	2.9
183	French Polynesia	62,100	16.2
184	Guam	59,900	110.1
185	Sao Tome and Principe	59,730	62
186	Jersey	56,824	489.9
187	New Caledonia	55,069	3
188	Isle of Man	54,759	95.7
189	Vanuatu	52,000	4.3
190	Dominica	51,423	68.5
191	Aruba	49,712	276.2
192	Antigua and Barbuda	45,816	103.4
193	Tonga	45,744	63.8
194	Guernsey	45,347	581.4
195	Brunei	44,983	8.5
196	Saint Kitts and Nevis	44,341	169.9
197	Bermuda	38,869	719.8
198	Kiribati	33,448	41.2
199	Seychelles	32,903	72.3
200	Faroe Islands	31,500	22.6
201	Federated States of Micronesia	30,715	43.8
202	U.S. Virgin Islands	26,900	77.3
203	Qatar	25,101	2.2
204	Gibraltar	22,974	3,282
205	Greenland	22,300	0
206	American Samoa	19,100	96.5
207	Monaco	18,125	9,062.5
208	Cook Islands	14,575	61.8
209	Liechtenstein	13,500	84.4
210	Montserrat	13,480	132.2
211	San Marino	12,780	209.5
212	Marshall Islands	10,904	60.2
213	Palau	7,251	15.8
214	Wallis and Futuna	6,962	49
215.5	Northern Mariana Islands	6,286	13.3
215.5	Cayman Islands	6,286	23.8
217	British Virgin Islands	6,243	41.3
218	Andorra	6,176	13.2
219	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	5,248	13.3
220	Anguilla	5,219	57.4
221	Turks and Caicos Islands	5,037	5.3
222	Tuvalu	4,676	179.8
223	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	4,594	19
224	Nauru	3,432	163.4
225	Saint Martin	2,869	53.1
226	Sint Maarten	2,280	67.1
227	Saint Barthelemy	2,028	81.1

Data from US Census International Database