1971 Population

In 1971, the world’s population was approximately 3.78 billion people. Asia was by far the most populous continent, home to over half of the global population, with China (around 850 million) and India (about 560 million) as the two most populous countries. Europe’s population stood at about 670 million, with the Soviet Union and Western European nations like Germany, the United Kingdom, and France among the largest contributors. Africa’s population was around 370 million, still much smaller than Asia but beginning a period of rapid growth. North America had roughly 230 million people, with the United States accounting for over 205 million of that total. Latin America and the Caribbean had a combined population of about 285 million, with Brazil and Mexico as the largest countries in the region. Oceania, including Australia and the Pacific Islands, had a relatively small population of about 20 million. This distribution reflected significant regional differences in birth rates, economic development, and urbanization that would shape demographic trends in the decades to follow.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	844,302,366	90.5
2	India	566,603,525	190.6
3	United States	206,827,000	22.6
4	Russia	130,977,408	8
5	Indonesia	124,739,487	68.9
6	Japan	105,696,786	290
7	Brazil	97,399,709	11.7
8	Germany	78,354,709	224.7
9	Pakistan	69,325,921	89.9
10	Bangladesh	69,149,652	531.2
11	Nigeria	57,321,592	62.9
12	United Kingdom	55,907,000	231.1
13	Mexico	54,406,901	28
14	Italy	54,005,500	183.6
15	France	52,469,295	81.9
16	Ukraine	47,637,239	82.2
17	Vietnam	43,614,366	140.7
18	Philippines	38,259,668	128.3
19	Thailand	38,201,901	74.8
20	Turkey	36,579,964	47.5
21	Spain	34,195,056	68.5
22	Egypt	34,183,988	34.3
23	South Korea	32,883,000	339.3
24	Poland	32,777,810	107.7
25	Ethiopia	30,099,662	27.4
26	Iran	29,828,937	19.5
27	Burma	27,926,302	42.7
28	Argentina	24,363,816	8.9
29	South Africa	23,338,080	19.2
30	Congo Kinshasa	22,385,560	9.9
31	Canada	22,026,400	2.4
32	Colombia	21,992,579	21.2
33	Romania	20,469,658	89
34	Morocco	16,402,340	22.9
35	Taiwan	14,918,496	462.4
36	North Korea	14,526,845	120.6
37	Algeria	14,335,388	6
38	Tanzania	14,236,867	16.1
39	Peru	13,568,300	10.6
40	Kazakhstan	13,324,719	4.9
41	Netherlands	13,204,305	389.6
42	Australia	12,937,200	1.7
43	Sri Lanka	12,869,417	199.1
44	Afghanistan	12,749,385	19.5
45	Uzbekistan	12,334,057	29
46	Nepal	12,154,668	84.8
47	Kenya	11,633,030	20.4
48	Sudan	11,329,180	6.1
49	Venezuela	11,151,693	12.6
50	Malaysia	11,146,389	33.9
51	Hungary	10,364,869	115.7
52	Uganda	9,964,948	50.6
53	Czechia	9,824,749	127.2
54	Iraq	9,732,199	22.3
55	Belgium	9,672,500	319.5
56	Mozambique	9,539,059	12.1
57	Chile	9,532,079	12.8
58	Belarus	9,101,396	44.9
59	Ghana	9,030,377	39.7
60	Portugal	8,990,450	98.3
61	Greece	8,831,036	67.6
62	Cuba	8,669,138	78.9
63	Bulgaria	8,536,395	78.7
64	Sweden	8,098,328	19.7
65	Austria	7,500,482	91
66	Cambodia	7,415,526	42
67	Serbia	7,306,432	94.3
68	Yemen	7,251,383	13.7
69	Madagascar	6,920,494	11.9
70	Cameroon	6,870,244	14.5
71	Syria	6,470,607	34.8
72	Angola	6,459,848	5.2
73	Switzerland	6,343,293	158.6
74	Saudi Arabia	6,287,454	2.9
75	Ecuador	6,116,773	22.1
76	Côte d'Ivoire	5,873,709	18.5
77	Zimbabwe	5,684,187	14.7
78	Mali	5,641,771	4.6
79	Guatemala	5,384,580	50.2
80	Burkina Faso	5,366,018	19.6
81	Azerbaijan	5,283,659	63.9
82	Tunisia	5,197,559	33.5
83	Denmark	4,963,126	117
84	Niger	4,948,667	3.9
85	Georgia	4,741,628	68
86	Malawi	4,630,328	49.2
87	Finland	4,612,124	15.2
88	Haiti	4,584,844	166.4
89	Slovakia	4,556,627	94.7
90	Dominican Republic	4,546,974	94.1
91	Bolivia	4,454,684	4.1
92	Senegal	4,450,142	23.1
93	Zambia	4,353,856	5.9
94	Croatia	4,215,869	75.3
95	Hong Kong	4,045,300	3,770.1
96	Norway	3,903,039	12.8
97	Chad	3,881,340	3.1
98	Rwanda	3,880,225	157.3
99	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3,761,000	73.5
100	Somalia	3,751,979	6
101	El Salvador	3,710,335	179.1
102	Guinea	3,662,129	14.9
103	Moldova	3,648,754	110.9
104	Burundi	3,596,811	140.1
105	Lithuania	3,177,533	50.7
106	Tajikistan	3,039,443	21.5
107	Kyrgyzstan	3,029,219	15.8
108	Israel	2,987,344	139
109	Ireland	2,978,300	43.2
110	South Sudan	2,925,850	4.5
111	Laos	2,904,042	12.6
112	New Zealand	2,875,300	10.9
113	Honduras	2,855,882	25.5
114	Sierra Leone	2,833,646	39.6
115	Uruguay	2,826,042	16.1
116	Puerto Rico	2,766,299	311.9
117	Benin	2,717,178	24.6
118	Armenia	2,581,671	91.5
119	Paraguay	2,544,518	6.4
120	Lebanon	2,447,943	239.3
121	Latvia	2,381,641	38.3
122	Papua New Guinea	2,272,746	5
123	Turkmenistan	2,246,710	4.8
124	Albania	2,208,719	80.6
125	Eritrea	2,208,336	21.9
126	Nicaragua	2,120,111	17.7
127	Singapore	2,112,900	2,980.1
128	Libya	2,077,381	1.2
129	Togo	2,021,064	37.2
130	Jamaica	1,967,012	181.6
131	Central African Republic	1,883,905	3
132	Costa Rica	1,785,636	35
133	Slovenia	1,685,624	83.6
134	North Macedonia	1,596,091	62.8
135	Panama	1,573,694	21.2
136	Jordan	1,569,749	17.7
137	Liberia	1,439,775	14.9
138	Estonia	1,381,459	32.6
139	Mauritania	1,310,672	1.3
140	Congo Brazzaville	1,305,794	3.8
141	Mongolia	1,283,400	0.8
142	Kosovo	1,247,444	114.6
143	Lesotho	1,091,675	36
144	Trinidad and Tobago	961,605	187.5
145	Mauritius	841,079	414.3
146	Oman	807,666	2.6
147	Kuwait	793,314	44.5
148	Namibia	792,629	1
149	Guyana	728,990	3.7
150	West Bank	709,882	125.9
151	Cyprus	633,419	68.5
152	Guinea-Bissau	623,282	22.2
153	Timor-Leste	613,767	41.3
154	Botswana	599,647	1.1
155	Fiji	533,000	29.2
156	Gabon	526,784	2
157	Montenegro	519,914	38.6
158	The Gambia	500,576	49.5
159	Eswatini	467,416	27.2
160	Suriname	376,613	2.4
161	Gaza Strip	349,979	972.2
162	Luxembourg	342,400	132.4
163	Malta	325,468	1,030
164	Bhutan	325,391	8.5
165	United Arab Emirates	288,136	3.4
166	Equatorial Guinea	273,999	9.8
167	Cabo Verde	273,418	67.8
168	Macau	263,565	9,413
169	Comoros	244,143	109.2
170	Barbados	240,606	559.5
171	Bahrain	225,375	296.5
172	Iceland	206,092	2.1
173	Djibouti	187,467	8.1
174	The Bahamas	174,220	17.4
175	Solomon Islands	168,500	6
176	Curaçao	147,399	332
177	Samoa	145,356	51.5
178	Brunei	136,621	25.9
179	Belize	124,890	5.5
180	Qatar	121,602	10.5
181	French Polynesia	121,100	31.6
182	New Caledonia	120,000	6.6
183	Maldives	118,880	398.9
184	Saint Lucia	104,904	173.1
185	Grenada	96,034	279.2
186	Guam	92,287	169.6
187	Vanuatu	88,100	7.2
188	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	87,415	224.7
189	Tonga	84,300	117.6
190	Sao Tome and Principe	74,860	77.7
191	U.S. Virgin Islands	70,937	203.8
192	Dominica	70,822	94.3
193	Jersey	69,488	599
194	Antigua and Barbuda	66,354	149.8
195	Aruba	59,397	330
196	Federated States of Micronesia	58,597	83.5
197	Seychelles	55,615	122.2
198	Guernsey	53,759	689.2
199	Isle of Man	53,474	93.5
200	Bermuda	53,071	982.8
201	Kiribati	49,760	61.4
202	Greenland	47,233	0
203	Saint Kitts and Nevis	45,775	175.4
204	Faroe Islands	38,682	27.8
205	American Samoa	27,731	140.1
206	Gibraltar	27,638	3,948.3
207	Monaco	24,063	12,031.5
208	Marshall Islands	22,699	125.4
209	Liechtenstein	21,788	136.2
210	Cook Islands	21,285	90.2
211	Andorra	20,550	43.9
212	San Marino	17,872	293
213	Northern Mariana Islands	12,972	27.5
214	Palau	12,208	26.6
215	Montserrat	11,851	116.2
216	Cayman Islands	10,885	41.2
217	British Virgin Islands	9,841	65.2
218	Wallis and Futuna	8,500	59.9
219	Sint Maarten	7,330	215.6
220	Nauru	6,700	319
221	Anguilla	6,208	68.2
222	Tuvalu	5,836	224.5
223	Turks and Caicos Islands	5,788	6.1
224	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	5,751	14.6
225	Saint Martin	5,601	103.7
226	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	5,573	23
227	Saint Barthelemy	2,416	96.6

Data from US Census International Database