1974 Population

In 1974, the world’s population was approximately 4 billion people, reflecting significant growth since the mid-20th century. Asia was the most populous continent, home to over half of the global population, with China and India alone accounting for more than 1.3 billion people combined—China’s population was about 900 million, while India’s was around 600 million. Europe’s population stood at roughly 670 million, with the Soviet Union, Germany, and the United Kingdom among its most populous countries. Africa’s population was around 400 million, with Nigeria and Egypt as leading population centers. North America had about 340 million people, the majority residing in the United States (roughly 215 million) and Mexico. Latin America and the Caribbean’s population was nearing 320 million, with Brazil as the largest country in the region. Oceania, including Australia and the Pacific Islands, had a much smaller share, with about 20 million inhabitants. This demographic landscape set the stage for ongoing rapid growth, especially in Asia and Africa, in the decades that followed.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	903,576,380	96.9
2	India	605,765,306	203.7
3	United States	213,342,000	23.3
4	Russia	133,378,674	8.1
5	Indonesia	132,450,322	73.1
6	Japan	110,162,302	302.2
7	Brazil	104,996,346	12.6
8	Germany	78,966,137	226.5
9	Pakistan	74,711,541	96.9
10	Bangladesh	74,584,661	573
11	Nigeria	62,656,849	68.8
12	Mexico	59,122,839	30.4
13	United Kingdom	56,224,000	232.4
14	Italy	55,226,259	187.8
15	France	53,731,000	83.9
16	Ukraine	48,676,939	84
17	Vietnam	46,902,295	151.3
18	Philippines	41,355,599	138.7
19	Thailand	41,305,651	80.9
20	Turkey	39,512,945	51.3
21	Egypt	36,216,313	36.4
22	Spain	35,184,287	70.5
23	South Korea	34,692,000	357.9
24	Poland	33,642,890	110.6
25	Iran	32,494,076	21.2
26	Ethiopia	32,199,367	29.4
27	Burma	29,770,683	45.6
28	Argentina	25,646,371	9.4
29	South Africa	25,178,954	20.7
30	Congo Kinshasa	24,333,992	10.7
31	Colombia	23,647,158	22.8
32	Canada	22,874,700	2.5
33	Romania	21,028,841	91.5
34	Morocco	17,419,003	24.3
35	Taiwan	15,824,103	490.5
36	North Korea	15,701,749	130.4
37	Tanzania	15,681,232	17.7
38	Algeria	15,653,200	6.6
39	Peru	14,753,100	11.5
40	Kazakhstan	13,971,543	5.2
41	Afghanistan	13,772,076	21.1
42	Australia	13,599,100	1.8
43	Uzbekistan	13,568,700	31.9
44	Sri Lanka	13,562,004	209.8
45	Netherlands	13,551,346	399.8
46	Kenya	12,944,287	22.7
47	Nepal	12,883,597	89.9
48	Sudan	12,328,380	6.6
49	Venezuela	12,280,562	13.9
50	Malaysia	11,879,566	36.1
51	Iraq	10,753,925	24.6
52	Uganda	10,552,377	53.5
53	Hungary	10,471,272	116.9
54	Mozambique	10,370,281	13.2
55	Chile	10,041,865	13.5
56	Czechia	9,975,770	129.1
57	Belgium	9,767,800	322.6
58	Ghana	9,759,602	42.9
59	Belarus	9,304,311	45.9
60	Cuba	9,150,808	83.3
61	Portugal	9,098,300	99.5
62	Greece	8,962,023	68.6
63	Bulgaria	8,678,745	80
64	Sweden	8,160,560	19.9
65	Yemen	7,755,019	14.7
66	Cambodia	7,669,791	43.5
67	Austria	7,599,038	92.2
68	Madagascar	7,423,573	12.8
69	Serbia	7,399,811	95.5
70	Cameroon	7,346,174	15.5
71	Syria	7,154,189	38.5
72	Angola	6,877,028	5.5
73	Saudi Arabia	6,868,001	3.2
74	Côte d'Ivoire	6,749,048	21.2
75	Ecuador	6,675,986	24.1
76	Switzerland	6,460,000	161.5
77	Zimbabwe	6,172,535	16
78	Mali	6,037,652	4.9
79	Guatemala	5,772,854	53.9
80	Azerbaijan	5,599,407	67.8
81	Burkina Faso	5,587,373	20.4
82	Tunisia	5,556,437	35.8
83	Niger	5,294,763	4.2
84	Malawi	5,072,873	53.9
85	Denmark	5,045,297	118.9
86	Dominican Republic	4,921,761	101.9
87	Senegal	4,872,244	25.3
88	Haiti	4,866,467	176.6
89	Georgia	4,865,233	69.8
90	Bolivia	4,796,240	4.4
91	Zambia	4,723,368	6.4
92	Finland	4,690,574	15.4
93	Slovakia	4,682,100	97.3
94	Hong Kong	4,319,600	4,025.7
95	Croatia	4,245,822	75.9
96	Rwanda	4,226,380	171.3
97	Chad	4,147,581	3.3
98	Somalia	4,027,472	6.4
99	Norway	3,985,258	13.1
100	El Salvador	3,973,004	191.7
101	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3,925,000	76.7
102	Guinea	3,864,444	15.7
103	Moldova	3,800,643	115.6
104	Burundi	3,594,958	140
105	Tajikistan	3,344,985	23.6
106	Lithuania	3,276,362	52.3
107	Israel	3,273,766	152.3
108	Kyrgyzstan	3,231,885	16.9
109	South Sudan	3,186,691	4.9
110	Ireland	3,124,200	45.4
111	Laos	3,092,373	13.4
112	New Zealand	3,058,400	11.6
113	Sierra Leone	2,973,542	41.5
114	Benin	2,949,028	26.7
115	Puerto Rico	2,886,600	325.5
116	Uruguay	2,838,213	16.2
117	Armenia	2,776,539	98.4
118	Paraguay	2,772,292	7
119	Honduras	2,765,159	24.7
120	Lebanon	2,645,305	258.6
121	Papua New Guinea	2,489,722	5.5
122	Libya	2,450,747	1.4
123	Turkmenistan	2,450,654	5.2
124	Latvia	2,442,473	39.2
125	Eritrea	2,380,509	23.6
126	Albania	2,347,924	85.7
127	Nicaragua	2,319,604	19.3
128	Singapore	2,229,800	3,145
129	Togo	2,202,422	40.5
130	Jamaica	2,071,146	191.2
131	Central African Republic	2,006,137	3.2
132	Costa Rica	1,937,413	37.9
133	Jordan	1,754,859	19.8
134	Slovenia	1,713,184	85
135	Panama	1,707,421	23
136	North Macedonia	1,661,657	65.3
137	Liberia	1,576,895	16.4
138	Estonia	1,422,291	33.6
139	Congo Brazzaville	1,414,408	4.1
140	Mongolia	1,402,600	0.9
141	Mauritania	1,379,655	1.3
142	Kosovo	1,338,686	123
143	Lesotho	1,168,731	38.5
144	Trinidad and Tobago	995,364	194.1
145	Kuwait	948,296	53.2
146	Oman	890,785	2.9
147	Namibia	882,005	1.1
148	Mauritius	873,292	430.2
149	West Bank	783,545	138.9
150	Guyana	765,282	3.9
151	Botswana	671,769	1.2
152	Timor-Leste	661,194	44.5
153	Cyprus	656,814	71.1
154	Guinea-Bissau	640,043	22.8
155	Gabon	599,562	2.3
156	Fiji	565,000	30.9
157	The Gambia	549,655	54.3
158	Montenegro	542,221	40.3
159	Eswatini	506,812	29.5
160	United Arab Emirates	453,222	5.4
161	Gaza Strip	382,779	1,063.3
162	Suriname	380,244	2.4
163	Bhutan	366,527	9.5
164	Luxembourg	355,050	137.3
165	Malta	323,524	1,023.8
166	Cabo Verde	278,769	69.1
167	Comoros	267,318	119.6
168	Macau	256,653	9,166.2
169	Equatorial Guinea	249,952	8.9
170	Bahrain	248,343	326.8
171	Barbados	245,563	571.1
172	Djibouti	215,389	9.3
173	Iceland	215,324	2.1
174	Solomon Islands	186,500	6.7
175	The Bahamas	185,499	18.5
176	Qatar	152,534	13.2
177	Brunei	151,000	28.7
178	Samoa	149,966	53.2
179	Curaçao	148,354	334.1
180	Belize	133,027	5.8
181	New Caledonia	131,000	7.2
182	French Polynesia	130,100	34
183	Maldives	128,722	432
184	Saint Lucia	110,985	183.1
185	Guam	101,302	186.2
186	Vanuatu	96,600	7.9
187	Grenada	96,340	280.1
188	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	90,996	233.9
189	U.S. Virgin Islands	89,941	258.5
190	Tonga	87,700	122.3
191	Sao Tome and Principe	79,667	82.6
192	Dominica	73,480	97.8
193	Jersey	71,660	617.8
194	Antigua and Barbuda	67,836	153.1
195	Federated States of Micronesia	64,241	91.5
196	Aruba	59,435	330.2
197	Seychelles	58,425	128.4
198	Isle of Man	57,794	101
199	Guernsey	53,792	689.6
200	Bermuda	53,639	993.3
201	Kiribati	52,390	64.6
202	Greenland	49,485	0
203	Saint Kitts and Nevis	44,984	172.4
204	Faroe Islands	40,120	28.8
205	American Samoa	29,057	146.8
206	Gibraltar	28,549	4,078.4
207	Marshall Islands	25,645	141.7
208	Monaco	24,885	12,442.5
209	Andorra	24,807	53
210	Liechtenstein	23,330	145.8
211	Cook Islands	19,860	84.2
212	San Marino	19,319	316.7
213	Northern Mariana Islands	14,596	30.9
214	Cayman Islands	13,352	50.6
215	Palau	12,745	27.8
216	Montserrat	12,031	118
217	British Virgin Islands	10,364	68.6
218	Sint Maarten	10,070	296.2
219	Wallis and Futuna	8,700	61.3
220	Nauru	7,000	333.3
221	Turks and Caicos Islands	6,308	6.7
222	Anguilla	6,269	68.9
223	Saint Martin	6,078	112.6
224	Tuvalu	6,015	231.3
225	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	5,984	15.2
226	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	5,849	24.2
227	Saint Barthelemy	2,471	98.8

Data from US Census International Database