1966 Population

In 1966, the world’s population was approximately 3.4 billion people, reflecting a period of rapid growth during the post-World War II era. Asia was by far the most populous continent, home to over half of the global population, with China and India already exceeding 700 million and 500 million inhabitants respectively. Europe’s population was around 670 million, with the Soviet Union, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy as its most populous countries. Africa’s population was about 350 million, concentrated in nations like Nigeria and Egypt. North America had roughly 230 million people, the majority residing in the United States (about 196 million) and Canada. Latin America and the Caribbean together had around 250 million, with Brazil and Mexico as the leading countries. Oceania, including Australia and New Zealand, had a much smaller population, totaling about 20 million. This demographic distribution reflected both historical settlement patterns and the early stages of the population explosion that would characterize the latter half of the 20th century.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	737,132,512	79
2	India	506,123,216	170.2
3	United States	195,576,000	21.4
4	Russia	127,414,772	7.8
5	Indonesia	112,964,506	62.4
6	Japan	99,790,308	273.8
7	Brazil	85,017,480	10.2
8	Germany	76,206,173	218.6
9	Bangladesh	61,496,046	472.4
10	Pakistan	60,641,899	78.7
11	United Kingdom	54,643,000	225.9
12	Italy	52,331,600	177.9
13	France	50,287,349	78.5
14	Nigeria	49,530,416	54.4
15	Mexico	46,537,832	23.9
16	Ukraine	45,673,640	78.8
17	Vietnam	38,378,468	123.8
18	Philippines	33,340,293	111.8
19	Thailand	33,035,794	64.7
20	Turkey	32,677,758	42.5
21	Spain	32,451,975	65
22	Poland	31,532,016	103.6
23	Egypt	30,986,381	31.1
24	South Korea	29,436,000	303.7
25	Ethiopia	27,307,798	24.9
26	Iran	25,807,476	16.9
27	Burma	25,398,927	38.9
28	Argentina	22,611,604	8.3
29	Canada	20,448,496	2.2
30	South Africa	20,440,487	16.8
31	Congo Kinshasa	19,343,383	8.5
32	Colombia	19,201,732	18.5
33	Romania	19,140,783	83.3
34	Morocco	14,470,522	20.2
35	Taiwan	13,321,002	412.9
36	Netherlands	12,464,225	367.8
37	Algeria	12,339,140	5.2
38	North Korea	12,336,994	102.5
39	Tanzania	12,231,389	13.8
40	Kazakhstan	12,179,771	4.5
41	Peru	11,796,400	9.2
42	Australia	11,655,083	1.5
43	Sri Lanka	11,533,482	178.5
44	Afghanistan	11,262,324	17.3
45	Nepal	11,057,476	77.1
46	Uzbekistan	10,529,599	24.8
47	Hungary	10,184,561	113.7
48	Sudan	9,913,496	5.3
49	Malaysia	9,899,803	30.1
50	Kenya	9,863,639	17.3
51	Czechia	9,815,359	127.1
52	Belgium	9,507,800	314
53	Venezuela	9,387,176	10.6
54	Portugal	9,108,800	99.6
55	Belarus	8,694,009	42.8
56	Chile	8,685,954	11.7
57	Uganda	8,640,153	43.8
58	Greece	8,613,651	65.9
59	Mozambique	8,486,381	10.8
60	Bulgaria	8,258,057	76.1
61	Ghana	8,245,481	36.2
62	Iraq	8,240,451	18.8
63	Cuba	7,985,316	72.7
64	Sweden	7,807,797	19
65	Austria	7,322,066	88.8
66	Serbia	7,016,451	90.6
67	Cambodia	6,779,482	38.4
68	Yemen	6,624,755	12.5
69	Cameroon	6,216,951	13.2
70	Madagascar	6,200,000	10.7
71	Switzerland	5,996,000	149.9
72	Angola	5,558,874	4.5
73	Syria	5,496,271	29.6
74	Saudi Arabia	5,469,365	2.5
75	Ecuador	5,272,639	19
76	Burkina Faso	5,077,473	18.5
77	Mali	5,063,566	4.1
78	Guatemala	4,842,773	45.2
79	Zimbabwe	4,835,691	12.5
80	Denmark	4,797,500	113.1
81	Azerbaijan	4,701,730	56.9
82	Tunisia	4,676,017	30.1
83	Finland	4,580,869	15.1
84	Côte d'Ivoire	4,563,607	14.4
85	Georgia	4,518,103	64.8
86	Niger	4,437,620	3.5
87	Slovakia	4,408,988	91.7
88	Haiti	4,179,400	151.6
89	Croatia	4,155,830	74.2
90	Malawi	4,023,000	42.8
91	Bolivia	3,945,474	3.6
92	Dominican Republic	3,926,395	81.3
93	Senegal	3,856,528	20
94	Zambia	3,794,000	5.1
95	Norway	3,753,628	12.3
96	Hong Kong	3,629,900	3,382.9
97	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3,541,000	69.2
98	Chad	3,470,815	2.8
99	Moldova	3,394,160	103.2
100	Rwanda	3,358,202	136.1
101	Somalia	3,354,474	5.3
102	Guinea	3,351,686	13.6
103	Burundi	3,253,610	126.7
104	El Salvador	3,128,206	151
105	Lithuania	2,996,683	47.8
106	Ireland	2,884,000	41.9
107	South Sudan	2,871,939	4.5
108	Uruguay	2,721,207	15.5
109	New Zealand	2,687,550	10.2
110	Kyrgyzstan	2,655,353	13.8
111	Israel	2,634,691	122.6
112	Puerto Rico	2,627,368	296.2
113	Sierra Leone	2,621,656	36.6
114	Laos	2,619,267	11.3
115	Tajikistan	2,592,754	18.3
116	Honduras	2,413,644	21.6
117	Benin	2,386,650	21.6
118	Latvia	2,278,721	36.6
119	Armenia	2,273,695	80.6
120	Paraguay	2,228,306	5.6
121	Lebanon	2,121,579	207.4
122	Papua New Guinea	1,991,670	4.4
123	Turkmenistan	1,935,923	4.1
124	Singapore	1,934,400	2,728.3
125	Albania	1,932,963	70.6
126	Jamaica	1,820,082	168
127	Nicaragua	1,807,123	15.1
128	Eritrea	1,773,393	17.6
129	Libya	1,693,925	1
130	Togo	1,690,838	31.1
131	Central African Republic	1,685,107	2.7
132	Slovenia	1,632,029	81
133	Costa Rica	1,538,442	30.1
134	North Macedonia	1,489,836	58.6
135	Panama	1,365,169	18.4
136	Estonia	1,300,177	30.7
137	Liberia	1,243,753	12.9
138	Mauritania	1,212,426	1.2
139	Congo Brazzaville	1,151,207	3.4
140	Mongolia	1,119,400	0.7
141	Jordan	1,114,708	12.6
142	Kosovo	1,106,376	101.6
143	Lesotho	973,983	32.1
144	Trinidad and Tobago	952,535	185.8
145	West Bank	876,138	155.3
146	Mauritius	774,160	381.4
147	Oman	700,070	2.3
148	Namibia	688,539	0.8
149	Guyana	656,528	3.3
150	Cyprus	604,935	65.5
151	Guinea-Bissau	598,111	21.3
152	Timor-Leste	562,088	37.8
153	Botswana	545,965	1
154	Kuwait	523,259	29.4
155	Montenegro	496,539	36.9
156	Gabon	481,519	1.9
157	Fiji	474,000	25.9
158	The Gambia	425,546	42
159	Eswatini	409,941	23.8
160	Gaza Strip	359,527	998.7
161	Suriname	345,406	2.2
162	Luxembourg	333,895	129.1
163	Malta	317,482	1,004.7
164	Bhutan	265,437	6.9
165	Equatorial Guinea	256,349	9.1
166	Cabo Verde	239,230	59.3
167	Barbados	236,227	549.4
168	Macau	231,905	8,282.3
169	Comoros	211,571	94.7
170	Bahrain	196,706	258.8
171	Iceland	195,610	2
172	United Arab Emirates	156,574	1.9
173	Djibouti	148,826	6.4
174	Solomon Islands	147,000	5.3
175	The Bahamas	145,065	14.5
176	Curaçao	136,036	306.4
177	Samoa	130,240	46.2
178	Belize	110,115	4.8
179	Brunei	106,629	20.3
180	Maldives	100,937	338.7
181	French Polynesia	98,562	25.8
182	Saint Lucia	96,065	158.5
183	Grenada	93,579	272
184	New Caledonia	93,462	5.1
185	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	86,301	221.9
186	Guam	79,200	145.6
187	Qatar	77,042	6.6
188	Tonga	76,456	106.6
189	Vanuatu	76,132	6.2
190	Sao Tome and Principe	69,766	72.4
191	Jersey	66,944	577.1
192	Dominica	64,948	86.5
193	Antigua and Barbuda	60,545	136.7
194	Aruba	58,632	325.7
195	Guernsey	50,782	651.1
196	Federated States of Micronesia	50,244	71.6
197	Bermuda	49,804	922.3
198	Isle of Man	49,448	86.4
199	Seychelles	48,796	107.2
200	Saint Kitts and Nevis	48,660	186.4
201	U.S. Virgin Islands	46,200	132.8
202	Kiribati	45,564	56.2
203	Greenland	40,851	0
204	Faroe Islands	37,300	26.8
205	American Samoa	26,700	134.8
206	Gibraltar	25,458	3,636.9
207	Monaco	22,677	11,338.5
208	Cook Islands	19,226	81.5
209	Liechtenstein	19,066	119.2
210	Marshall Islands	18,397	101.6
211	San Marino	17,725	290.6
212	Andorra	14,380	30.7
213	Montserrat	11,723	114.9
214	Palau	11,138	24.3
215	Northern Mariana Islands	10,819	22.9
216	Cayman Islands	8,831	33.5
217	British Virgin Islands	8,675	57.5
218	Wallis and Futuna	8,300	58.5
219	Nauru	6,057	288.4
220	Anguilla	5,907	64.9
221	Turks and Caicos Islands	5,686	6
222	Tuvalu	5,633	216.7
223	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	5,391	13.7
224	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	5,122	21.2
225	Saint Martin	4,936	91.4
226	Sint Maarten	4,479	131.7
227	Saint Barthelemy	2,312	92.5

Data from US Census International Database