1986 Population

In 1986, the world population was estimated at approximately 5 billion people, reflecting significant growth since the mid-20th century. Asia was the most populous continent, home to over 3 billion people, with China and India alone accounting for more than 1 billion and 780 million inhabitants respectively. Africa’s population was around 550 million, with Nigeria and Egypt as its most populous countries. Europe had about 720 million people, with the Soviet Union (then still unified) and Germany being the largest contributors. North America’s population was roughly 400 million, dominated by the United States, which had about 240 million residents. Latin America and the Caribbean together had over 400 million people, with Brazil and Mexico as demographic leaders. Oceania, including Australia, had a much smaller share, with about 25 million people. These figures reflected ongoing demographic trends, including rapid growth in developing regions and slower increases or stagnation in more developed areas.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	1,078,563,527	115.6
2	India	788,529,545	265.2
3	United States	240,132,887	26.2
4	Indonesia	169,155,943	93.4
5	Russia	144,966,550	8.9
6	Brazil	139,279,388	16.7
7	Japan	121,491,913	333.3
8	Pakistan	104,372,478	135.4
9	Bangladesh	96,806,446	743.7
10	Nigeria	87,635,518	96.2
11	Mexico	78,248,289	40.3
12	Germany	77,713,485	222.9
13	Vietnam	61,439,826	198.1
14	France	56,799,537	88.7
15	United Kingdom	56,750,920	234.6
16	Italy	56,717,458	192.8
17	Philippines	55,949,318	187.6
18	Thailand	52,637,818	103
19	Turkey	52,120,785	67.7
20	Egypt	51,593,433	51.8
21	Ukraine	51,095,072	88.2
22	Iran	50,464,396	32.9
23	Ethiopia	41,644,255	38
24	South Korea	41,214,000	425.2
25	Spain	38,707,556	77.6
26	Poland	37,504,275	123.3
27	Burma	37,443,565	57.3
28	South Africa	35,103,314	28.9
29	Congo Kinshasa	34,385,929	15.2
30	Colombia	31,237,652	30.1
31	Argentina	31,144,993	11.4
32	Canada	26,203,800	2.9
33	Algeria	22,642,538	9.5
34	Romania	22,599,678	98.3
35	Morocco	22,478,336	31.4
36	Tanzania	22,130,214	25
37	Peru	22,043,563	17.2
38	Kenya	20,462,604	36
39	Taiwan	19,555,581	606.2
40	North Korea	19,137,450	158.9
41	Uzbekistan	18,717,630	44
42	Sudan	18,177,803	9.8
43	Venezuela	17,706,633	20.1
44	Nepal	16,847,975	117.5
45	Iraq	16,247,340	37.1
46	Kazakhstan	16,193,001	6
47	Malaysia	16,162,258	49.2
48	Sri Lanka	16,069,843	248.6
49	Australia	15,680,646	2
50	Netherlands	14,585,132	430.3
51	Uganda	14,404,331	73.1
52	Mozambique	14,000,657	17.8
53	Saudi Arabia	13,998,295	6.5
54	Ghana	13,274,478	58.3
55	Afghanistan	13,125,920	20.1
56	Chile	12,144,931	16.3
57	Yemen	10,869,580	20.6
58	Syria	10,867,866	58.5
59	Hungary	10,630,563	118.6
60	Cameroon	10,437,146	22.1
61	Madagascar	10,312,604	17.7
62	Czechia	10,308,836	133.5
63	Cuba	10,182,687	92.7
64	Belarus	10,044,184	49.5
65	Greece	9,998,871	76.5
66	Côte d'Ivoire	9,952,932	31.3
67	Portugal	9,907,411	108.3
68	Belgium	9,861,800	325.7
69	Angola	9,801,022	7.9
70	Ecuador	9,301,083	33.6
71	Bulgaria	8,958,770	82.6
72	Zimbabwe	8,856,810	22.9
73	Sweden	8,384,069	20.4
74	Cambodia	8,175,778	46.3
75	Mali	7,796,017	6.4
76	Serbia	7,739,838	99.9
77	Guatemala	7,715,374	72
78	Austria	7,568,242	91.8
79	Tunisia	7,556,541	48.6
80	Burkina Faso	7,374,320	26.9
81	Malawi	7,200,780	76.5
82	Niger	7,036,411	5.6
83	Azerbaijan	6,970,134	84.4
84	Zambia	6,772,547	9.1
85	Somalia	6,714,927	10.7
86	Switzerland	6,607,178	165.2
87	Senegal	6,549,569	34
88	Dominican Republic	6,498,307	134.5
89	Rwanda	6,218,629	252.1
90	Haiti	6,204,938	225.1
91	Bolivia	6,041,350	5.6
92	Hong Kong	5,524,600	5,148.7
93	Chad	5,392,385	4.3
94	South Sudan	5,245,597	8.1
95	Georgia	5,218,973	74.9
96	Slovakia	5,172,084	107.5
97	Guinea	5,164,494	21
98	Denmark	5,120,534	120.7
99	Burundi	4,930,963	192
100	Finland	4,917,386	16.2
101	El Salvador	4,758,322	229.6
102	Tajikistan	4,715,514	33.3
103	Croatia	4,471,752	79.9
104	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4,247,288	83
105	Benin	4,240,518	38.3
106	Honduras	4,229,325	37.8
107	Moldova	4,183,283	127.2
108	Norway	4,166,596	13.7
109	Kyrgyzstan	4,156,285	21.7
110	Israel	4,120,134	191.7
111	Sierra Leone	3,881,439	54.2
112	Laos	3,761,769	16.3
113	Paraguay	3,739,904	9.4
114	Libya	3,680,901	2.1
115	Lithuania	3,619,593	57.7
116	Papua New Guinea	3,565,970	7.9
117	Ireland	3,540,500	51.4
118	Armenia	3,528,533	125.1
119	Puerto Rico	3,413,303	384.9
120	New Zealand	3,340,633	12.6
121	Turkmenistan	3,323,673	7.1
122	Nicaragua	3,248,094	27.1
123	Lebanon	3,232,383	316
124	Togo	3,172,292	58.3
125	Uruguay	3,032,257	17.3
126	Albania	3,015,438	110.1
127	Eritrea	2,877,999	28.5
128	Jordan	2,768,259	31.2
129	Central African Republic	2,762,754	4.4
130	Singapore	2,750,069	3,878.8
131	Costa Rica	2,723,378	53.3
132	Latvia	2,626,695	42.2
133	Jamaica	2,379,919	219.7
134	Liberia	2,232,988	23.2
135	Panama	2,219,799	29.9
136	Congo Brazzaville	1,981,280	5.8
137	Slovenia	1,932,129	95.9
138	Mongolia	1,902,828	1.2
139	North Macedonia	1,850,679	72.8
140	Kuwait	1,809,382	101.5
141	Mauritania	1,763,680	1.7
142	Kosovo	1,717,241	157.7
143	Lesotho	1,592,918	52.5
144	Oman	1,554,393	5
145	Estonia	1,550,072	36.6
146	United Arab Emirates	1,446,574	17.3
147	Namibia	1,234,469	1.5
148	Trinidad and Tobago	1,177,353	229.6
149	Botswana	1,112,309	2
150	West Bank	1,080,128	191.5
151	Mauritius	1,028,233	506.5
152	Guinea-Bissau	906,596	32.2
153	Gabon	871,383	3.4
154	The Gambia	806,828	79.7
155	Guyana	762,483	3.9
156	Eswatini	749,670	43.6
157	Fiji	712,989	39
158	Cyprus	690,425	74.7
159	Timor-Leste	667,029	44.8
160	Bhutan	571,298	14.9
161	Montenegro	564,558	42
162	Gaza Strip	549,712	1,527
163	Bahrain	439,410	578.2
164	Suriname	402,444	2.6
165	Djibouti	394,308	17
166	Comoros	392,057	175.4
167	Qatar	371,995	32.1
168	Luxembourg	369,019	142.7
169	Malta	346,745	1,097.3
170	Equatorial Guinea	333,655	11.9
171	Cabo Verde	321,341	79.7
172	Macau	312,196	11,149.9
173	Solomon Islands	281,923	10.1
174	Barbados	258,375	600.9
175	Iceland	242,999	2.4
176	The Bahamas	231,445	23.1
177	Brunei	224,731	42.7
178	Maldives	184,612	619.5
179	French Polynesia	180,635	47.2
180	Belize	175,766	7.7
181	Samoa	160,859	57
182	New Caledonia	155,578	8.5
183	Curaçao	153,308	345.3
184	Vanuatu	138,477	11.4
185	Saint Lucia	132,714	219
186	Guam	122,880	225.9
187	Sao Tome and Principe	106,345	110.3
188	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	104,763	269.3
189	U.S. Virgin Islands	100,842	289.8
190	Tonga	94,892	132.3
191	Federated States of Micronesia	94,151	134.1
192	Grenada	93,554	272
193	Jersey	80,448	693.5
194	Dominica	72,379	96.4
195	Seychelles	67,838	149.1
196	Isle of Man	64,531	112.8
197	Antigua and Barbuda	64,402	145.4
198	Kiribati	63,774	78.6
199	Aruba	59,804	332.2
200	Guernsey	58,440	749.2
201	Bermuda	56,514	1,046.6
202	Greenland	53,636	0
203	Andorra	46,476	99.3
204	Faroe Islands	46,054	33.1
205	Saint Kitts and Nevis	42,726	163.7
206	American Samoa	40,164	202.8
207	Marshall Islands	39,903	220.5
208	Gibraltar	29,071	4,153
209	Monaco	28,530	14,265
210	Liechtenstein	27,238	170.2
211	Northern Mariana Islands	23,026	48.8
212	San Marino	22,771	373.3
213	Cayman Islands	21,438	81.2
214	Sint Maarten	20,894	614.5
215	Saint Martin	18,337	339.6
216	Cook Islands	17,645	74.8
217	Palau	13,963	30.4
218	British Virgin Islands	13,631	90.3
219	Wallis and Futuna	13,274	93.5
220	Montserrat	11,205	109.9
221	Turks and Caicos Islands	9,733	10.3
222	Nauru	8,708	414.7
223	Tuvalu	8,347	321
224	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	8,310	21.1
225	Anguilla	7,246	79.6
226	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	6,207	25.6
227	Saint Barthelemy	4,173	166.9

Data from US Census International Database