1951 Population

In 1951, the world’s population was approximately 2.5 billion people, reflecting a period of steady growth following World War II. Asia was the most populous continent, home to over 1.3 billion people, with China and India alone accounting for roughly 550 million and 370 million, respectively. Europe’s population stood at about 550 million, still recovering from wartime losses, while Africa’s population was around 220 million, predominantly concentrated in regions such as North Africa and the Nile Valley. The Americas had a combined population of nearly 340 million, with the United States leading at about 155 million and Brazil emerging as the most populous country in South America with around 54 million. Oceania, including Australia and the Pacific Islands, had a much smaller share, with less than 15 million inhabitants. This demographic landscape laid the foundation for the rapid population growth and urbanization that would characterize the latter half of the 20th century.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	567,159,896	60.8
2	India	376,182,850	126.5
3	United States	153,982,000	16.8
4	Russia	103,506,916	6.3
5	Japan	85,163,848	233.7
6	Indonesia	84,113,761	46.4
7	Germany	68,875,884	197.5
8	Brazil	54,973,775	6.6
9	United Kingdom	50,290,000	207.9
10	Italy	47,418,000	161.2
11	Bangladesh	46,149,840	354.5
12	France	42,883,948	67
13	Pakistan	41,346,560	53.6
14	Ukraine	37,435,785	64.6
15	Nigeria	32,492,088	35.7
16	Mexico	29,296,235	15.1
17	Spain	28,298,010	56.7
18	Vietnam	25,793,577	83.2
19	Poland	25,262,265	83
20	Philippines	21,736,410	72.9
21	Egypt	21,704,443	21.8
22	Turkey	21,669,334	28.2
23	South Korea	20,876,189	215.4
24	Thailand	20,653,334	40.4
25	Ethiopia	20,511,408	18.7
26	Burma	19,788,256	30.3
27	Argentina	17,517,342	6.4
28	Iran	16,810,772	11
29	Romania	16,464,000	71.6
30	Canada	14,330,675	1.6
31	South Africa	13,926,314	11.5
32	Congo Kinshasa	13,831,813	6.1
33	Colombia	11,965,000	11.5
34	Netherlands	10,271,552	303.1
35	Morocco	9,643,754	13.5
36	Hungary	9,423,000	105.2
37	North Korea	9,167,312	76.1
38	Nepal	9,085,715	63.4
39	Algeria	9,073,304	3.8
40	Czechia	9,023,170	116.8
41	Belgium	8,678,386	286.6
42	Australia	8,510,600	1.1
43	Portugal	8,490,250	92.8
44	Afghanistan	8,284,473	12.7
45	Taiwan	8,251,326	255.8
46	Tanzania	8,124,902	9.2
47	Peru	7,826,200	6.1
48	Sri Lanka	7,755,062	120
49	Belarus	7,742,159	38.2
50	Greece	7,646,402	58.5
51	Bulgaria	7,258,200	66.9
52	Sweden	7,072,830	17.2
53	Kazakhstan	6,936,060	2.6
54	Austria	6,935,451	84.1
55	Sudan	6,642,201	3.6
56	Malaysia	6,581,839	20
57	Uzbekistan	6,489,850	15.3
58	Mozambique	6,345,838	8.1
59	Kenya	6,289,336	11.1
60	Chile	6,251,933	8.4
61	Serbia	6,029,178	77.8
62	Cuba	5,891,797	53.6
63	Uganda	5,670,970	28.8
64	Ghana	5,436,555	23.9
65	Iraq	5,299,983	12.1
66	Venezuela	5,217,020	5.9
67	Cameroon	4,947,090	10.5
68	Yemen	4,869,125	9.2
69	Switzerland	4,749,000	118.7
70	Madagascar	4,690,031	8.1
71	Cambodia	4,581,150	26
72	Burkina Faso	4,422,822	16.2
73	Denmark	4,303,620	101.4
74	Angola	4,173,095	3.3
75	Finland	4,047,300	13.3
76	Saudi Arabia	3,931,753	1.8
77	Croatia	3,859,830	69
78	Mali	3,760,424	3.1
79	Tunisia	3,582,970	23.1
80	Georgia	3,579,417	51.4
81	Syria	3,576,406	19.2
82	Slovakia	3,508,698	72.9
83	Ecuador	3,458,093	12.5
84	Niger	3,324,164	2.6
85	Norway	3,295,871	10.8
86	Haiti	3,145,938	114.1
87	Guatemala	3,065,784	28.6
88	Azerbaijan	2,983,082	36.1
89	Ireland	2,959,311	43
90	Zimbabwe	2,950,941	7.6
91	Côte d'Ivoire	2,918,070	9.2
92	Malawi	2,866,038	30.5
93	Bolivia	2,823,667	2.6
94	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2,721,000	53.2
95	South Sudan	2,716,093	4.2
96	Senegal	2,703,457	14
97	Chad	2,646,897	2.1
98	Guinea	2,624,584	10.7
99	Zambia	2,611,000	3.5
100	Lithuania	2,561,579	40.9
101	Rwanda	2,485,919	100.8
102	Somalia	2,481,642	4
103	Moldova	2,422,094	73.6
104	Dominican Republic	2,419,125	50.1
105	Burundi	2,403,682	93.6
106	Puerto Rico	2,235,000	252
107	Uruguay	2,223,060	12.7
108	Sierra Leone	2,114,827	29.5
109	Hong Kong	2,015,300	1,878.2
110	El Salvador	1,989,756	96
111	Latvia	1,950,888	31.3
112	New Zealand	1,947,389	7.4
113	Laos	1,920,815	8.3
114	Kyrgyzstan	1,767,107	9.2
115	Benin	1,705,754	15.4
116	Tajikistan	1,584,833	11.2
117	Paraguay	1,515,299	3.8
118	Israel	1,489,771	69.3
119	Slovenia	1,483,131	73.6
120	Honduras	1,474,191	13.2
121	Papua New Guinea	1,435,786	3.2
122	Eritrea	1,420,279	14.1
123	Jamaica	1,405,615	129.8
124	Lebanon	1,401,246	137
125	Armenia	1,379,204	48.9
126	Central African Republic	1,275,178	2
127	North Macedonia	1,255,619	49.4
128	Albania	1,254,119	45.8
129	Turkmenistan	1,226,498	2.6
130	Togo	1,194,973	22
131	Nicaragua	1,131,307	9.4
132	Estonia	1,111,966	26.2
133	Singapore	1,068,100	1,506.5
134	Mauritania	1,013,753	1
135	Libya	989,591	0.6
136	Panama	915,560	12.3
137	Costa Rica	895,336	17.5
138	Liberia	843,231	8.8
139	Congo Brazzaville	840,223	2.5
140	Mongolia	788,937	0.5
141	Kosovo	779,414	71.6
142	West Bank	774,512	137.3
143	Lesotho	737,230	24.3
144	Trinidad and Tobago	648,700	126.5
145	Jordan	584,413	6.6
146	Guinea-Bissau	576,948	20.5
147	Cyprus	502,520	54.4
148	Mauritius	498,593	245.6
149	Oman	498,356	1.6
150	Namibia	474,595	0.6
151	Timor-Leste	442,862	29.8
152	Guyana	439,062	2.2
153	Botswana	436,320	0.8
154	Gabon	418,227	1.6
155	Montenegro	405,216	30.1
156	Malta	312,646	989.4
157	Luxembourg	297,425	115
158	Fiji	295,212	16.2
159	Eswatini	283,699	16.5
160	The Gambia	277,682	27.4
161	Gaza Strip	247,821	688.4
162	Barbados	214,729	499.4
163	Equatorial Guinea	214,064	7.6
164	Suriname	213,342	1.4
165	Macau	202,367	7,227.4
166	Bhutan	168,026	4.4
167	Kuwait	152,197	8.5
168	Comoros	150,937	67.5
169	Cabo Verde	150,651	37.4
170	Iceland	145,604	1.5
171	Bahrain	117,580	154.7
172	Solomon Islands	107,978	3.9
173	Curaçao	103,244	232.5
174	Samoa	84,351	29.9
175	Djibouti	81,315	3.5
176	Saint Lucia	80,801	133.3
177	Maldives	78,614	263.8
178	Grenada	76,969	223.7
179	United Arab Emirates	73,298	0.9
180	The Bahamas	73,229	7.3
181	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	68,550	176.2
182	Belize	66,759	2.9
183	Guam	63,400	116.5
184	French Polynesia	63,000	16.5
185	Sao Tome and Principe	59,916	62.2
186	Jersey	57,451	495.3
187	New Caledonia	56,780	3.1
188	Isle of Man	53,860	94.2
189	Vanuatu	53,262	4.4
190	Dominica	52,316	69.7
191	Aruba	51,335	285.2
192	Brunei	47,632	9
193	Tonga	47,378	66.1
194	Antigua and Barbuda	46,901	105.9
195	Guernsey	45,537	583.8
196	Saint Kitts and Nevis	45,202	173.2
197	Bermuda	39,386	729.4
198	Kiribati	34,114	42.1
199	Seychelles	32,945	72.4
200	Faroe Islands	32,100	23
201	Federated States of Micronesia	31,674	45.1
202	U.S. Virgin Islands	27,700	79.6
203	Qatar	27,058	2.3
204	Gibraltar	23,219	3,317
205	Greenland	22,700	0
206	American Samoa	19,500	98.5
207	Monaco	18,156	9,078
208	Cook Islands	14,955	63.4
209	Liechtenstein	14,000	87.5
210	Montserrat	13,306	130.5
211	San Marino	12,969	212.6
212	Marshall Islands	11,266	62.2
213	Palau	7,448	16.2
214	Wallis and Futuna	7,050	49.6
215	Northern Mariana Islands	6,507	13.8
216	Cayman Islands	6,399	24.2
217	Andorra	6,310	13.5
218	British Virgin Islands	6,245	41.4
219	Anguilla	5,261	57.8
220	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	5,250	13.3
221	Turks and Caicos Islands	5,022	5.3
222	Tuvalu	4,731	182
223	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	4,608	19
224	Nauru	3,434	163.5
225	Saint Martin	2,986	55.3
226	Sint Maarten	2,320	68.2
227	Saint Barthelemy	2,040	81.6

Data from US Census International Database