1978 Population

In 1978, the world’s population was approximately 4.3 billion people. Asia was the most populous continent, home to more than half of the global population, with China and India alone accounting for over 1.9 billion people combined—China had around 960 million, and India about 670 million. Africa’s population was just over 400 million, with Nigeria, Egypt, and Ethiopia as its most populous nations. Europe’s population stood at about 690 million, with the Soviet Union (then including Russia and other republics) and West Germany being significant contributors. North America had around 340 million people, with the United States comprising about 220 million of that total. Latin America and the Caribbean together had roughly 320 million, with Brazil and Mexico as the largest countries. Oceania, including Australia and the Pacific Islands, had a much smaller population, totaling about 21 million. These population patterns reflected both historical growth rates and the early stages of demographic transitions in many developing regions.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	961,638,579	103.1
2	India	658,040,343	221.3
3	United States	222,095,000	24.3
4	Indonesia	144,176,782	79.6
5	Russia	137,245,870	8.4
6	Brazil	115,661,948	13.8
7	Japan	114,912,911	315.3
8	Pakistan	82,374,302	106.9
9	Bangladesh	78,497,395	603
10	Germany	78,066,074	223.9
11	Nigeria	70,706,367	77.6
12	Mexico	65,295,990	33.6
13	Italy	56,240,143	191.2
14	United Kingdom	56,167,000	232.2
15	France	54,649,382	85.3
16	Vietnam	51,662,728	166.6
17	Ukraine	49,642,987	85.7
18	Philippines	45,827,880	153.7
19	Thailand	45,056,957	88.2
20	Turkey	43,274,733	56.2
21	Egypt	40,020,461	40.2
22	South Korea	37,019,000	382
23	Spain	36,861,034	73.9
24	Iran	36,758,133	24
25	Ethiopia	35,216,317	32.1
26	Poland	34,929,072	114.8
27	Burma	32,017,578	49
28	South Africa	27,809,087	22.9
29	Argentina	27,440,272	10
30	Congo Kinshasa	27,315,131	12
31	Colombia	25,842,192	24.9
32	Canada	24,036,300	2.6
33	Romania	21,831,875	95
34	Morocco	18,853,444	26.3
35	Algeria	17,685,768	7.4
36	Tanzania	17,647,395	19.9
37	Taiwan	17,111,535	530.4
38	North Korea	16,830,095	139.8
39	Peru	16,414,399	12.8
40	Afghanistan	15,269,281	23.4
41	Uzbekistan	15,207,113	35.7
42	Kenya	15,079,690	26.5
43	Kazakhstan	14,623,619	5.4
44	Sri Lanka	14,511,088	224.5
45	Australia	14,208,993	1.8
46	Nepal	13,993,609	97.6
47	Netherlands	13,947,172	411.5
48	Venezuela	13,930,824	15.8
49	Sudan	13,915,270	7.5
50	Malaysia	12,905,669	39.3
51	Iraq	12,317,137	28.2
52	Uganda	11,612,082	58.9
53	Mozambique	11,466,483	14.6
54	Chile	10,685,889	14.4
55	Hungary	10,673,300	119.1
56	Ghana	10,500,172	46.1
57	Czechia	10,212,894	132.2
58	Belgium	9,829,700	324.6
59	Portugal	9,698,780	106
60	Cuba	9,629,696	87.7
61	Belarus	9,520,280	46.9
62	Greece	9,429,959	72.2
63	Bulgaria	8,803,281	81.1
64	Saudi Arabia	8,722,071	4.1
65	Yemen	8,641,036	16.4
66	Sweden	8,275,778	20.2
67	Madagascar	8,220,979	14.1
68	Syria	8,176,690	44
69	Cameroon	8,162,805	17.3
70	Côte d'Ivoire	7,774,982	24.4
71	Austria	7,562,305	91.7
72	Serbia	7,524,862	97.1
73	Angola	7,509,974	6
74	Ecuador	7,489,432	27.1
75	Cambodia	6,824,675	38.7
76	Zimbabwe	6,767,223	17.5
77	Mali	6,594,229	5.4
78	Guatemala	6,345,655	59.2
79	Switzerland	6,332,568	158.3
80	Tunisia	6,136,282	39.5
81	Burkina Faso	6,025,544	22
82	Azerbaijan	5,986,427	72.4
83	Malawi	5,840,178	62.1
84	Niger	5,815,562	4.6
85	Dominican Republic	5,431,308	112.4
86	Senegal	5,343,789	27.8
87	Haiti	5,270,294	191.2
88	Zambia	5,247,987	7.1
89	Bolivia	5,204,622	4.8
90	Denmark	5,104,247	120.3
91	Georgia	4,991,045	71.6
92	Slovakia	4,876,017	101.4
93	Rwanda	4,818,992	195.4
94	Finland	4,752,528	15.6
95	Somalia	4,679,501	7.5
96	Hong Kong	4,667,500	4,350
97	Chad	4,541,191	3.6
98	El Salvador	4,399,428	212.3
99	Croatia	4,349,242	77.7
100	Guinea	4,154,890	16.9
101	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4,135,000	80.8
102	South Sudan	4,109,671	6.4
103	Norway	4,058,671	13.3
104	Moldova	3,947,422	120
105	Burundi	3,929,974	153
106	Tajikistan	3,760,973	26.6
107	Israel	3,554,581	165.4
108	Kyrgyzstan	3,496,165	18.2
109	Lithuania	3,386,988	54
110	Ireland	3,314,000	48.1
111	Benin	3,304,940	29.9
112	Laos	3,247,736	14.1
113	Sierra Leone	3,235,008	45.2
114	Honduras	3,168,948	28.3
115	New Zealand	3,165,800	12
116	Puerto Rico	3,117,884	351.5
117	Paraguay	3,037,492	7.6
118	Armenia	3,014,042	106.9
119	Uruguay	2,896,507	16.6
120	Papua New Guinea	2,828,753	6.2
121	Lebanon	2,800,036	273.7
122	Libya	2,793,329	1.6
123	Turkmenistan	2,733,933	5.8
124	Nicaragua	2,608,303	21.7
125	Albania	2,563,376	93.6
126	Eritrea	2,537,978	25.1
127	Latvia	2,504,508	40.2
128	Togo	2,472,385	45.5
129	Singapore	2,353,600	3,319.6
130	Central African Republic	2,224,430	3.6
131	Costa Rica	2,192,367	42.9
132	Jamaica	2,179,441	201.2
133	Jordan	2,030,193	22.9
134	Panama	1,874,971	25.2
135	Slovenia	1,759,395	87.3
136	Liberia	1,754,119	18.2
137	North Macedonia	1,747,113	68.7
138	Congo Brazzaville	1,583,662	4.6
139	Mongolia	1,571,700	1
140	Mauritania	1,483,992	1.4
141	Estonia	1,463,533	34.5
142	Kosovo	1,460,464	134.1
143	Lesotho	1,288,860	42.5
144	Kuwait	1,213,584	68.1
145	Oman	1,067,675	3.4
146	Trinidad and Tobago	1,055,527	205.8
147	Namibia	997,913	1.2
148	Mauritius	929,367	457.8
149	West Bank	864,122	153.2
150	Botswana	822,247	1.5
151	United Arab Emirates	778,736	9.3
152	Guinea-Bissau	758,113	27
153	Guyana	755,889	3.8
154	Gabon	731,744	2.8
155	Cyprus	618,672	66.9
156	The Gambia	616,216	60.9
157	Fiji	610,845	33.4
158	Timor-Leste	604,930	40.7
159	Eswatini	568,347	33
160	Montenegro	565,561	42
161	Gaza Strip	431,608	1,198.9
162	Bhutan	427,632	11.1
163	Suriname	365,277	2.3
164	Luxembourg	362,100	140
165	Malta	339,786	1,075.3
166	Bahrain	322,535	424.4
167	Comoros	318,860	142.7
168	Cabo Verde	289,170	71.7
169	Djibouti	273,214	11.8
170	Barbados	250,145	581.7
171	Macau	248,564	8,877.3
172	Iceland	223,587	2.2
173	Solomon Islands	215,078	7.7
174	The Bahamas	201,499	20.1
175	Qatar	200,667	17.3
176	Equatorial Guinea	194,597	6.9
177	Brunei	173,000	32.9
178	Samoa	155,429	55.1
179	Curaçao	148,343	334.1
180	Maldives	144,875	486.2
181	Belize	142,937	6.3
182	French Polynesia	142,083	37.1
183	New Caledonia	137,500	7.5
184	Saint Lucia	119,025	196.4
185	Vanuatu	109,400	9
186	Guam	101,960	187.4
187	U.S. Virgin Islands	95,929	275.7
188	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	95,717	246.1
189	Grenada	92,535	269
190	Tonga	91,199	127.2
191	Sao Tome and Principe	89,367	92.7
192	Dominica	74,366	99
193	Jersey	74,186	639.5
194	Federated States of Micronesia	72,538	103.3
195	Antigua and Barbuda	68,608	154.9
196	Seychelles	62,450	137.3
197	Isle of Man	62,331	109
198	Aruba	59,201	328.9
199	Kiribati	55,713	68.7
200	Bermuda	54,377	1,007
201	Guernsey	53,485	685.7
202	Greenland	49,243	0
203	Saint Kitts and Nevis	44,103	169
204	Faroe Islands	42,481	30.5
205	American Samoa	31,411	158.6
206	Andorra	30,321	64.8
207	Marshall Islands	28,901	159.7
208	Gibraltar	28,604	4,086.3
209	Monaco	25,971	12,985.5
210	Liechtenstein	24,412	152.6
211	San Marino	20,820	341.3
212	Cook Islands	18,650	79
213	Northern Mariana Islands	16,118	34.1
214	Cayman Islands	15,332	58.1
215	Palau	13,120	28.6
216	Montserrat	11,728	115
217	Sint Maarten	11,198	329.4
218	British Virgin Islands	10,812	71.6
219	Wallis and Futuna	10,000	70.4
220	Nauru	7,434	354
221	Turks and Caicos Islands	7,049	7.4
222	Saint Martin	7,035	130.3
223	Tuvalu	7,034	270.5
224	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	6,436	16.3
225	Anguilla	6,431	70.7
226	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	5,943	24.6
227	Saint Barthelemy	2,753	110.1

Data from US Census International Database