1952 Population

In 1952, the world’s population was approximately 2.6 billion people, marking a period of steady growth following World War II. Asia was the most populous continent, home to over 1.3 billion people, with China (around 575 million) and India (about 370 million) as the two largest countries by population. Europe had roughly 550 million inhabitants, with the Soviet Union, Germany, and the United Kingdom among its most populous nations. Africa’s population was about 230 million, still relatively small compared to Asia and Europe, while North America had around 170 million people, the majority living in the United States (about 157 million) and Canada. Latin America, including Central and South America, had a combined population of around 160 million, with Brazil and Mexico as leading countries. Oceania, including Australia and the Pacific Islands, was the least populous region, with fewer than 15 million people. This demographic landscape set the stage for the rapid population growth that would characterize the latter half of the 20th century.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	574,656,098	61.6
2	India	382,791,319	128.7
3	United States	156,393,000	17.1
4	Russia	105,385,090	6.4
5	Japan	86,459,025	237.2
6	Indonesia	85,418,340	47.2
7	Germany	69,145,952	198.3
8	Brazil	56,557,783	6.8
9	United Kingdom	50,430,000	208.4
10	Italy	47,666,000	162.1
11	Bangladesh	46,881,899	360.2
12	France	43,206,189	67.5
13	Pakistan	42,342,412	54.9
14	Ukraine	38,006,180	65.6
15	Nigeria	33,207,747	36.5
16	Mexico	30,144,317	15.5
17	Spain	28,549,870	57.2
18	Vietnam	26,246,839	84.6
19	Poland	25,730,551	84.6
20	Philippines	22,358,886	75
21	Turkey	22,235,677	28.9
22	Egypt	22,223,309	22.3
23	Thailand	21,289,402	41.7
24	South Korea	20,947,571	216.1
25	Ethiopia	20,860,941	19
26	Burma	20,093,491	30.7
27	Argentina	17,876,956	6.5
28	Iran	17,275,640	11.3
29	Romania	16,630,000	72.3
30	Canada	14,785,584	1.6
31	South Africa	14,264,935	11.7
32	Congo Kinshasa	14,100,005	6.2
33	Colombia	12,350,771	11.9
34	Netherlands	10,389,292	306.5
35	Morocco	9,950,553	13.9
36	Hungary	9,504,000	106.1
37	Algeria	9,279,525	3.9
38	Nepal	9,182,536	64.1
39	Czechia	9,125,183	118.1
40	North Korea	8,874,977	73.7
41	Belgium	8,730,405	288.3
42	Australia	8,691,212	1.1
43	Taiwan	8,550,362	265
44	Portugal	8,526,050	93.2
45	Afghanistan	8,425,333	12.9
46	Tanzania	8,322,925	9.4
47	Peru	8,025,700	6.3
48	Sri Lanka	7,987,879	123.6
49	Greece	7,733,250	59.2
50	Belarus	7,698,249	37.9
51	Bulgaria	7,274,900	67.1
52	Sweden	7,124,673	17.4
53	Kazakhstan	7,123,394	2.6
54	Austria	6,927,772	84
55	Sudan	6,821,916	3.7
56	Malaysia	6,748,378	20.5
57	Uzbekistan	6,681,196	15.7
58	Kenya	6,464,046	11.4
59	Mozambique	6,446,316	8.2
60	Chile	6,377,619	8.6
61	Serbia	6,102,453	78.8
62	Cuba	6,007,797	54.7
63	Uganda	5,824,797	29.6
64	Ghana	5,581,001	24.5
65	Iraq	5,441,766	12.4
66	Venezuela	5,439,568	6.2
67	Cameroon	5,009,067	10.6
68	Yemen	4,963,829	9.4
69	Switzerland	4,815,000	120.4
70	Madagascar	4,762,912	8.2
71	Cambodia	4,693,836	26.6
72	Burkina Faso	4,469,979	16.3
73	Denmark	4,334,000	102.1
74	Angola	4,232,095	3.4
75	Finland	4,090,500	13.5
76	Saudi Arabia	4,005,677	1.9
77	Croatia	3,882,229	69.4
78	Mali	3,834,631	3.1
79	Syria	3,661,198	19.7
80	Tunisia	3,647,735	23.5
81	Georgia	3,628,347	52.1
82	Slovakia	3,558,137	74
83	Ecuador	3,548,753	12.8
84	Niger	3,379,468	2.7
85	Norway	3,327,728	10.9
86	Haiti	3,196,987	116
87	Guatemala	3,165,769	29.5
88	Azerbaijan	3,090,973	37.4
89	Zimbabwe	3,080,907	8
90	Côte d'Ivoire	2,977,019	9.4
91	Ireland	2,952,156	42.9
92	Malawi	2,917,802	31
93	Bolivia	2,883,315	2.7
94	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2,791,000	54.5
95	Senegal	2,755,589	14.3
96	South Sudan	2,726,214	4.2
97	Chad	2,687,474	2.1
98	Zambia	2,672,000	3.6
99	Guinea	2,664,249	10.8
100	Lithuania	2,583,984	41.2
101	Rwanda	2,534,927	102.8
102	Somalia	2,526,994	4
103	Dominican Republic	2,491,346	51.6
104	Moldova	2,466,740	75
105	Burundi	2,445,618	95.2
106	Uruguay	2,252,965	12.9
107	Puerto Rico	2,227,000	251.1
108	Sierra Leone	2,143,249	29.9
109	Hong Kong	2,125,900	1,981.3
110	El Salvador	2,042,865	98.6
111	New Zealand	1,994,794	7.5
112	Latvia	1,964,319	31.6
113	Laos	1,957,268	8.5
114	Kyrgyzstan	1,786,533	9.3
115	Benin	1,740,025	15.7
116	Tajikistan	1,640,949	11.6
117	Israel	1,620,420	75.4
118	Paraguay	1,555,876	3.9
119	Honduras	1,517,453	13.6
120	Slovenia	1,489,518	73.9
121	Papua New Guinea	1,460,629	3.2
122	Lebanon	1,439,529	140.7
123	Eritrea	1,438,760	14.2
124	Jamaica	1,426,095	131.7
125	Armenia	1,416,722	50.2
126	Central African Republic	1,291,695	2.1
127	Albania	1,282,697	46.8
128	North Macedonia	1,271,611	50
129	Turkmenistan	1,252,749	2.7
130	Togo	1,219,113	22.4
131	Nicaragua	1,165,790	9.7
132	Estonia	1,130,445	26.7
133	Singapore	1,127,000	1,589.6
134	Mauritania	1,022,556	1
135	Libya	1,019,729	0.6
136	Panama	940,080	12.6
137	Costa Rica	926,317	18.1
138	Liberia	863,308	9
139	Congo Brazzaville	854,885	2.5
140	Mongolia	800,663	0.5
141	Kosovo	797,834	73.3
142	West Bank	777,872	137.9
143	Lesotho	748,747	24.7
144	Trinidad and Tobago	662,850	129.3
145	Jordan	608,415	6.9
146	Guinea-Bissau	580,653	20.6
147	Mauritius	516,556	254.5
148	Cyprus	509,053	55.1
149	Oman	508,138	1.6
150	Namibia	485,831	0.6
151	Guyana	451,430	2.3
152	Timor-Leste	450,195	30.3
153	Botswana	442,308	0.8
154	Gabon	420,702	1.6
155	Montenegro	413,834	30.8
156	Malta	316,619	1,002
157	Fiji	303,594	16.6
158	Luxembourg	299,263	115.7
159	Eswatini	290,243	16.9
160	The Gambia	284,320	28.1
161	Gaza Strip	252,713	702
162	Suriname	219,410	1.4
163	Barbados	217,959	506.9
164	Equatorial Guinea	216,964	7.7
165	Macau	199,489	7,124.6
166	Bhutan	172,401	4.5
167	Kuwait	160,000	9
168	Cabo Verde	155,037	38.4
169	Comoros	153,936	68.9
170	Iceland	147,962	1.5
171	Bahrain	120,447	158.5
172	Solomon Islands	109,424	3.9
173	Curaçao	105,351	237.3
174	Samoa	86,746	30.8
175	Djibouti	83,458	3.6
176	Saint Lucia	82,114	135.5
177	Grenada	78,339	227.7
178	Maldives	77,940	261.5
179	The Bahamas	76,217	7.6
180	United Arab Emirates	75,273	0.9
181	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	70,523	181.3
182	Belize	69,932	3.1
183	French Polynesia	64,500	16.9
184	Guam	63,600	116.9
185	Sao Tome and Principe	60,011	62.3
186	New Caledonia	58,615	3.2
187	Jersey	58,085	500.7
188	Vanuatu	54,554	4.5
189	Dominica	53,209	70.9
190	Isle of Man	53,137	92.9
191	Aruba	51,955	288.6
192	Brunei	50,634	9.6
193	Tonga	49,066	68.4
194	Antigua and Barbuda	47,961	108.3
195	Saint Kitts and Nevis	46,171	176.9
196	Guernsey	45,725	586.2
197	Bermuda	39,876	738.4
198	Kiribati	34,792	42.9
199	Seychelles	33,460	73.5
200	Federated States of Micronesia	32,664	46.5
201	Faroe Islands	32,500	23.3
202	Qatar	29,044	2.5
203	U.S. Virgin Islands	27,900	80.2
204	Gibraltar	23,310	3,330
205	Greenland	23,100	0
206	American Samoa	19,300	97.5
207	Monaco	18,188	9,094
208	Cook Islands	15,286	64.8
209	Liechtenstein	13,900	86.9
210	San Marino	13,176	216
211	Montserrat	13,173	129.1
212	Marshall Islands	11,640	64.3
213	Palau	7,651	16.7
214	Wallis and Futuna	7,138	50.3
215	Northern Mariana Islands	6,736	14.3
216	Cayman Islands	6,518	24.7
217	British Virgin Islands	6,304	41.7
218	Andorra	5,866	12.5
219	Anguilla	5,303	58.3
220	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	5,252	13.3
221	Turks and Caicos Islands	5,030	5.3
222	Tuvalu	4,788	184.2
223	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	4,622	19.1
224	Nauru	3,244	154.5
225	Saint Martin	3,108	57.6
226	Sint Maarten	2,360	69.4
227	Saint Barthelemy	2,053	82.1

Data from US Census International Database