1985 Population

In 1985, the world’s population was approximately 4.85 billion people. Asia was by far the most populous continent, home to over 2.6 billion people, with China (about 1.05 billion) and India (around 780 million) leading as the world’s most populous countries. Africa’s population was nearing 550 million, with Nigeria and Egypt as its largest countries. Europe had about 690 million residents, with the Soviet Union, then still intact, and Germany among its most populous nations. North America’s population was roughly 400 million, dominated by the United States (around 240 million) and Mexico. Latin America and the Caribbean together had about 390 million people, with Brazil (nearly 135 million) as the regional giant. Oceania, including Australia and the Pacific islands, had a much smaller population, about 25 million. The global demographic landscape in 1985 reflected rapid growth in developing regions, particularly Asia and Africa, while Europe and North America experienced slower increases.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	1,061,875,848	113.9
2	India	770,152,274	259
3	United States	237,923,795	26
4	Indonesia	166,069,317	91.7
5	Russia	143,937,997	8.8
6	Brazil	136,363,558	16.3
7	Japan	120,754,335	331.3
8	Pakistan	101,421,542	131.6
9	Bangladesh	94,584,305	726.6
10	Nigeria	85,379,308	93.7
11	Germany	77,684,907	222.8
12	Mexico	76,600,787	39.4
13	Vietnam	60,093,068	193.8
14	Italy	56,718,115	192.8
15	United Kingdom	56,584,077	233.9
16	France	56,560,972	88.3
17	Philippines	54,570,180	183
18	Thailand	51,758,689	101.3
19	Turkey	50,988,566	66.3
20	Ukraine	50,944,248	87.9
21	Egypt	50,052,381	50.3
22	Iran	48,618,977	31.7
23	South Korea	40,806,000	421
24	Ethiopia	40,684,471	37.1
25	Spain	38,534,853	77.2
26	Poland	37,225,792	122.4
27	Burma	36,733,456	56.2
28	South Africa	34,254,092	28.2
29	Congo Kinshasa	33,347,628	14.7
30	Argentina	30,671,759	11.2
31	Colombia	30,494,674	29.4
32	Canada	25,941,600	2.9
33	Romania	22,521,195	98
34	Algeria	22,008,450	9.2
35	Morocco	21,948,629	30.6
36	Tanzania	21,501,733	24.3
37	Peru	21,118,480	16.5
38	Kenya	19,754,036	34.7
39	Taiwan	19,337,363	599.4
40	North Korea	18,830,679	156.4
41	Uzbekistan	18,215,415	42.8
42	Sudan	17,506,721	9.4
43	Venezuela	17,197,072	19.5
44	Nepal	16,438,782	114.7
45	Kazakhstan	15,998,854	5.9
46	Sri Lanka	15,847,023	245.2
47	Iraq	15,693,620	35.9
48	Malaysia	15,685,144	47.7
49	Australia	15,499,863	2
50	Netherlands	14,504,372	427.9
51	Uganda	13,930,262	70.7
52	Mozambique	13,731,838	17.5
53	Saudi Arabia	13,330,067	6.2
54	Afghanistan	13,119,943	20.1
55	Ghana	12,888,548	56.6
56	Chile	11,952,148	16.1
57	Hungary	10,648,713	118.8
58	Yemen	10,539,928	20
59	Syria	10,478,546	56.4
60	Czechia	10,310,162	133.5
61	Cameroon	10,099,516	21.4
62	Cuba	10,084,201	91.8
63	Madagascar	10,014,533	17.2
64	Belarus	9,981,744	49.2
65	Greece	9,961,128	76.2
66	Portugal	9,897,192	108.2
67	Belgium	9,858,200	325.6
68	Côte d'Ivoire	9,652,845	30.4
69	Angola	9,472,346	7.6
70	Ecuador	9,061,664	32.7
71	Bulgaria	8,943,573	82.4
72	Zimbabwe	8,548,242	22.1
73	Sweden	8,356,337	20.4
74	Cambodia	7,912,778	44.8
75	Serbia	7,719,700	99.6
76	Mali	7,625,898	6.2
77	Austria	7,559,776	91.7
78	Guatemala	7,513,581	70.1
79	Tunisia	7,368,354	47.4
80	Burkina Faso	7,170,932	26.2
81	Malawi	6,969,603	74.1
82	Niger	6,866,536	5.4
83	Azerbaijan	6,845,030	82.8
84	Switzerland	6,567,071	164.2
85	Zambia	6,546,694	8.8
86	Somalia	6,458,539	10.3
87	Senegal	6,378,233	33.1
88	Dominican Republic	6,366,148	131.7
89	Haiti	6,076,064	220.5
90	Rwanda	6,025,284	244.3
91	Bolivia	5,934,935	5.5
92	Hong Kong	5,456,200	5,085
93	South Sudan	5,319,695	8.3
94	Chad	5,234,276	4.2
95	Georgia	5,192,957	74.5
96	Slovakia	5,144,632	106.9
97	Denmark	5,113,691	120.5
98	Guinea	5,015,682	20.4
99	Finland	4,901,783	16.1
100	Burundi	4,848,529	188.8
101	El Salvador	4,671,054	225.4
102	Tajikistan	4,568,802	32.3
103	Croatia	4,457,874	79.6
104	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4,226,764	82.6
105	Norway	4,152,419	13.6
106	Moldova	4,148,172	126.1
107	Benin	4,107,498	37.1
108	Honduras	4,079,440	36.5
109	Kyrgyzstan	4,061,575	21.2
110	Israel	4,048,540	188.3
111	Sierra Leone	3,787,642	52.9
112	Libya	3,660,030	2.1
113	Laos	3,657,169	15.8
114	Paraguay	3,633,464	9.1
115	Lithuania	3,587,032	57.2
116	Ireland	3,540,000	51.4
117	Armenia	3,464,297	122.8
118	Papua New Guinea	3,462,897	7.6
119	Puerto Rico	3,382,106	381.3
120	New Zealand	3,323,811	12.6
121	Turkmenistan	3,240,472	6.9
122	Nicaragua	3,180,138	26.5
123	Lebanon	3,176,885	310.5
124	Togo	3,061,353	56.3
125	Uruguay	3,018,871	17.2
126	Albania	2,956,697	107.9
127	Eritrea	2,941,211	29.1
128	Singapore	2,749,897	3,878.6
129	Central African Republic	2,704,525	4.3
130	Jordan	2,668,563	30.1
131	Costa Rica	2,644,306	51.8
132	Latvia	2,606,405	41.9
133	Jamaica	2,358,892	217.8
134	Panama	2,174,472	29.3
135	Liberia	2,163,053	22.5
136	Congo Brazzaville	1,926,210	5.6
137	Slovenia	1,914,220	95
138	Mongolia	1,859,256	1.2
139	North Macedonia	1,844,740	72.5
140	Kuwait	1,732,824	97.3
141	Mauritania	1,723,466	1.7
142	Kosovo	1,682,293	154.5
143	Lesotho	1,559,057	51.4
144	Estonia	1,538,224	36.3
145	Oman	1,497,225	4.8
146	United Arab Emirates	1,363,482	16.3
147	Namibia	1,199,651	1.5
148	Trinidad and Tobago	1,162,423	226.7
149	Botswana	1,077,420	1.9
150	West Bank	1,044,073	185.1
151	Mauritius	1,020,544	502.7
152	Guinea-Bissau	885,606	31.5
153	Gabon	843,920	3.3
154	The Gambia	773,544	76.4
155	Guyana	760,713	3.9
156	Eswatini	721,807	42
157	Fiji	698,942	38.2
158	Cyprus	679,224	73.5
159	Timor-Leste	648,798	43.6
160	Montenegro	560,562	41.7
161	Bhutan	551,993	14.4
162	Gaza Strip	531,778	1,477.2
163	Bahrain	423,224	556.9
164	Suriname	396,225	2.5
165	Comoros	382,817	171.3
166	Djibouti	380,049	16.4
167	Luxembourg	367,169	142
168	Malta	347,039	1,098.2
169	Qatar	342,378	29.6
170	Equatorial Guinea	325,213	11.6
171	Cabo Verde	316,887	78.6
172	Macau	305,843	10,923
173	Solomon Islands	272,773	9.7
174	Barbados	257,344	598.5
175	Iceland	241,403	2.4
176	The Bahamas	228,218	22.8
177	Brunei	217,836	41.4
178	Maldives	177,297	595
179	French Polynesia	175,409	45.8
180	Belize	168,796	7.4
181	Samoa	160,737	57
182	Curaçao	153,684	346.1
183	New Caledonia	152,587	8.3
184	Vanuatu	134,730	11.1
185	Saint Lucia	131,006	216.2
186	Guam	120,615	221.7
187	Sao Tome and Principe	104,186	108.1
188	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	103,853	267
189	U.S. Virgin Islands	100,760	289.5
190	Tonga	94,380	131.6
191	Grenada	93,059	270.5
192	Federated States of Micronesia	90,631	129.1
193	Jersey	79,589	686.1
194	Dominica	73,109	97.3
195	Seychelles	67,175	147.6
196	Antigua and Barbuda	64,398	145.4
197	Isle of Man	64,342	112.5
198	Kiribati	62,034	76.5
199	Aruba	61,511	341.7
200	Bermuda	56,181	1,040.4
201	Guernsey	55,159	707.2
202	Greenland	53,150	0
203	Faroe Islands	45,574	32.7
204	Andorra	44,596	95.3
205	Saint Kitts and Nevis	42,928	164.5
206	American Samoa	38,633	195.1
207	Marshall Islands	38,240	211.3
208	Gibraltar	28,646	4,092.3
209	Monaco	28,181	14,090.5
210	Liechtenstein	26,879	168
211	San Marino	22,589	370.3
212	Northern Mariana Islands	21,386	45.3
213	Cayman Islands	20,846	79
214	Sint Maarten	19,315	568.1
215	Cook Islands	17,493	74.1
216	Saint Martin	15,392	285
217	Palau	13,804	30.1
218	British Virgin Islands	13,183	87.3
219	Wallis and Futuna	13,001	91.6
220	Montserrat	11,323	111
221	Turks and Caicos Islands	9,316	9.8
222	Nauru	8,517	405.6
223	Tuvalu	8,156	313.7
224	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	7,941	20.2
225	Anguilla	6,967	76.6
226	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	6,158	25.4
227	Saint Barthelemy	3,933	157.3

Data from US Census International Database