1973 Population

In 1973, the world’s population was approximately 3.9 billion people, reflecting significant growth since the mid-20th century. Asia was by far the most populous continent, home to over half of the global population, with China (about 850 million) and India (around 600 million) as the two most populous countries. Europe had roughly 460 million inhabitants, while Africa’s population was about 370 million, concentrated in countries like Nigeria and Egypt. The Americas together accounted for nearly 600 million people, with the United States (around 210 million) and Brazil (about 110 million) as the leading nations in North and South America, respectively. Oceania remained the least populous continent, with Australia and New Zealand together totaling fewer than 20 million residents. This demographic landscape set the stage for the rapid urbanization and population growth that would characterize the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	885,139,935	94.9
2	India	592,654,058	199.3
3	United States	211,357,000	23.1
4	Russia	132,556,176	8.1
5	Indonesia	129,795,268	71.6
6	Japan	108,706,797	298.2
7	Brazil	102,433,648	12.3
8	Germany	78,950,220	226.4
9	Pakistan	72,911,780	94.6
10	Bangladesh	72,382,694	556.1
11	Nigeria	60,818,511	66.8
12	Mexico	57,557,303	29.6
13	United Kingdom	56,210,000	232.3
14	Italy	54,796,843	186.3
15	France	53,372,894	83.3
16	Ukraine	48,367,002	83.5
17	Vietnam	45,736,496	147.5
18	Philippines	40,312,086	135.2
19	Thailand	40,302,225	78.9
20	Turkey	38,503,442	50
21	Egypt	35,480,414	35.6
22	Spain	34,836,716	69.8
23	South Korea	34,073,000	351.6
24	Poland	33,331,131	109.5
25	Iran	31,567,417	20.6
26	Ethiopia	31,445,177	28.7
27	Burma	29,226,657	44.7
28	Argentina	25,209,829	9.2
29	South Africa	24,549,294	20.2
30	Congo Kinshasa	23,668,471	10.4
31	Colombia	23,069,231	22.2
32	Canada	22,559,500	2.5
33	Romania	20,827,525	90.6
34	Morocco	17,083,808	23.8
35	Taiwan	15,525,588	481.3
36	North Korea	15,348,539	127.5
37	Tanzania	15,201,384	17.2
38	Algeria	15,197,724	6.4
39	Peru	14,350,300	11.2
40	Kazakhstan	13,754,298	5.1
41	Netherlands	13,449,003	396.8
42	Afghanistan	13,421,301	20.6
43	Australia	13,380,400	1.7
44	Sri Lanka	13,351,662	206.6
45	Uzbekistan	13,147,733	30.9
46	Nepal	12,631,326	88.1
47	Kenya	12,482,054	21.9
48	Sudan	11,960,783	6.4
49	Venezuela	11,893,035	13.5
50	Malaysia	11,633,590	35.4
51	Hungary	10,425,984	116.4
52	Iraq	10,401,956	23.8
53	Uganda	10,334,537	52.4
54	Mozambique	10,087,915	12.8
55	Czechia	9,912,080	128.3
56	Chile	9,871,079	13.3
57	Belgium	9,738,400	321.6
58	Ghana	9,546,354	42
59	Belarus	9,236,465	45.5
60	Cuba	8,999,837	82
61	Portugal	8,975,950	98.1
62	Greece	8,929,086	68.3
63	Bulgaria	8,620,997	79.5
64	Sweden	8,136,774	19.8
65	Cambodia	7,593,611	43
66	Austria	7,586,115	92
67	Yemen	7,579,501	14.4
68	Serbia	7,368,646	95.1
69	Madagascar	7,250,455	12.5
70	Cameroon	7,179,499	15.2
71	Syria	6,918,660	37.2
72	Angola	6,851,461	5.5
73	Saudi Arabia	6,666,928	3.1
74	Ecuador	6,485,013	23.4
75	Côte d'Ivoire	6,465,220	20.3
76	Switzerland	6,441,100	161
77	Zimbabwe	6,001,949	15.5
78	Mali	5,901,251	4.8
79	Guatemala	5,639,011	52.6
80	Burkina Faso	5,507,594	20.1
81	Azerbaijan	5,497,774	66.5
82	Tunisia	5,426,213	34.9
83	Niger	5,175,408	4.1
84	Denmark	5,021,861	118.3
85	Malawi	4,900,549	52.1
86	Georgia	4,825,850	69.2
87	Dominican Republic	4,796,148	99.3
88	Haiti	4,771,193	173.1
89	Senegal	4,727,163	24.6
90	Bolivia	4,679,923	4.3
91	Finland	4,666,081	15.4
92	Slovakia	4,637,193	96.4
93	Zambia	4,595,292	6.2
94	Croatia	4,234,664	75.7
95	Hong Kong	4,212,600	3,926
96	Rwanda	4,109,838	166.6
97	Chad	4,055,948	3.2
98	Norway	3,960,613	13
99	Somalia	3,931,655	6.3
100	El Salvador	3,878,991	187.2
101	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3,872,000	75.6
102	Guinea	3,795,610	15.4
103	Moldova	3,752,827	114.1
104	Burundi	3,540,066	137.9
105	Lithuania	3,245,551	51.8
106	Tajikistan	3,242,778	22.9
107	Israel	3,186,224	148.2
108	Kyrgyzstan	3,161,160	16.5
109	Honduras	3,077,805	27.5
110	Ireland	3,073,200	44.6
111	Laos	3,026,848	13.1
112	New Zealand	2,992,300	11.3
113	South Sudan	2,990,358	4.6
114	Sierra Leone	2,925,433	40.8
115	Benin	2,868,577	25.9
116	Puerto Rico	2,863,420	322.9
117	Uruguay	2,834,115	16.2
118	Armenia	2,712,997	96.2
119	Paraguay	2,692,466	6.8
120	Lebanon	2,578,960	252.1
121	Latvia	2,421,355	38.9
122	Papua New Guinea	2,415,971	5.3
123	Turkmenistan	2,379,578	5.1
124	Eritrea	2,340,837	23.2
125	Libya	2,312,369	1.3
126	Albania	2,295,691	83.8
127	Nicaragua	2,247,502	18.7
128	Singapore	2,193,000	3,093.1
129	Togo	2,140,099	39.4
130	Jamaica	2,036,377	188
131	Central African Republic	1,965,058	3.2
132	Costa Rica	1,886,035	36.9
133	Slovenia	1,703,373	84.5
134	Jordan	1,690,198	19
135	Panama	1,659,952	22.3
136	North Macedonia	1,639,236	64.5
137	Liberia	1,529,454	15.9
138	Estonia	1,410,836	33.3
139	Congo Brazzaville	1,376,455	4
140	Mongolia	1,360,100	0.9
141	Mauritania	1,355,793	1.3
142	Kosovo	1,308,263	120.2
143	Lesotho	1,142,460	37.6
144	Trinidad and Tobago	984,786	192
145	Kuwait	893,534	50.1
146	Oman	862,646	2.8
147	Mauritius	861,239	424.3
148	Namibia	851,258	1
149	Guyana	755,324	3.8
150	West Bank	754,390	133.8
151	Cyprus	649,171	70.2
152	Timor-Leste	646,155	43.4
153	Botswana	643,076	1.1
154	Guinea-Bissau	633,266	22.5
155	Gabon	562,480	2.2
156	Fiji	556,000	30.4
157	Montenegro	534,461	39.7
158	The Gambia	534,171	52.8
159	Eswatini	493,232	28.7
160	United Arab Emirates	391,337	4.7
161	Suriname	383,018	2.5
162	Gaza Strip	369,395	1,026.1
163	Bhutan	352,378	9.2
164	Luxembourg	350,450	135.5
165	Malta	321,838	1,018.5
166	Cabo Verde	277,331	68.8
167	Equatorial Guinea	271,301	9.7
168	Comoros	259,299	116
169	Macau	258,929	9,247.5
170	Barbados	244,127	567.7
171	Bahrain	238,977	314.4
172	Iceland	212,364	2.1
173	Djibouti	205,274	8.9
174	The Bahamas	181,985	18.2
175	Solomon Islands	180,500	6.4
176	Samoa	149,436	53
177	Curaçao	146,913	330.9
178	Brunei	145,170	27.6
179	Qatar	141,435	12.2
180	Belize	130,375	5.7
181	New Caledonia	128,500	7
182	French Polynesia	127,000	33.2
183	Maldives	125,665	421.7
184	Saint Lucia	109,025	179.9
185	Guam	105,550	194
186	Grenada	96,857	281.6
187	Vanuatu	93,700	7.7
188	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	89,894	231.1
189	Tonga	86,800	121.1
190	U.S. Virgin Islands	84,121	241.7
191	Sao Tome and Principe	78,222	81.1
192	Dominica	72,792	96.9
193	Jersey	70,989	612
194	Antigua and Barbuda	67,532	152.4
195	Federated States of Micronesia	62,731	89.4
196	Aruba	59,529	330.7
197	Seychelles	57,530	126.4
198	Isle of Man	56,317	98.5
199	Guernsey	53,827	690.1
200	Bermuda	53,450	989.8
201	Kiribati	51,530	63.5
202	Greenland	49,024	0
203	Saint Kitts and Nevis	45,269	173.4
204	Faroe Islands	39,481	28.3
205	Gibraltar	29,120	4,160
206	American Samoa	28,612	144.5
207	Marshall Islands	24,806	137
208	Monaco	24,651	12,325.5
209	Andorra	23,092	49.3
210	Liechtenstein	22,864	142.9
211	Cook Islands	20,856	88.4
212	San Marino	18,876	309.4
213	Northern Mariana Islands	14,200	30.1
214	Palau	12,627	27.5
215	Cayman Islands	12,536	47.5
216	Montserrat	11,985	117.5
217	British Virgin Islands	10,178	67.4
218	Sint Maarten	9,400	276.5
219	Wallis and Futuna	8,500	59.9
220	Nauru	6,900	328.6
221	Anguilla	6,430	70.7
222	Turks and Caicos Islands	6,135	6.5
223	Saint Martin	5,915	109.5
224	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	5,905	15
225	Tuvalu	5,878	226.1
226	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	5,774	23.9
227	Saint Barthelemy	2,452	98.1

Data from US Census International Database