1987 Population

In 1987, the world’s population reached a significant milestone, surpassing 5 billion people, a moment commemorated as the “Day of 5 Billion” by the United Nations on July 11. Asia was by far the most populous continent, home to over 3 billion people, with China and India alone accounting for more than 1 billion and 800 million inhabitants respectively, making them the two most populous countries. Africa’s population was around 630 million, while Europe had about 720 million people, though its growth rate was much slower compared to other regions. North America’s population was approximately 365 million, with the United States making up the majority at around 242 million. Latin America and the Caribbean had roughly 400 million people, and Oceania, including Australia and the Pacific islands, had just over 25 million. This demographic landscape reflected rapid growth in developing regions, particularly in Asia and Africa, while many developed countries experienced slower population increases.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	1,097,953,369	117.7
2	India	807,153,282	271.5
3	United States	242,288,918	26.5
4	Indonesia	172,231,272	95.1
5	Russia	145,958,907	8.9
6	Brazil	142,149,441	17
7	Japan	122,091,325	335
8	Pakistan	107,372,882	139.3
9	Bangladesh	99,076,293	761.1
10	Nigeria	89,982,654	98.8
11	Mexico	79,903,511	41.1
12	Germany	77,718,298	222.9
13	Vietnam	62,826,491	202.6
14	Philippines	57,309,402	192.2
15	France	57,066,371	89.1
16	United Kingdom	56,927,038	235.3
17	Italy	56,710,054	192.8
18	Thailand	53,512,779	104.7
19	Turkey	53,239,145	69.2
20	Egypt	52,432,011	52.7
21	Iran	52,208,991	34.1
22	Ukraine	51,218,101	88.4
23	Ethiopia	43,055,526	39.3
24	South Korea	41,622,000	429.4
25	Spain	38,880,702	77.9
26	Burma	38,155,635	58.4
27	Poland	37,740,710	124
28	South Africa	35,953,741	29.6
29	Congo Kinshasa	35,504,145	15.7
30	Colombia	31,996,160	30.8
31	Argentina	31,624,620	11.6
32	Canada	26,549,700	2.9
33	Algeria	23,254,956	9.8
34	Peru	23,009,927	18
35	Morocco	23,006,434	32.1
36	Tanzania	22,821,038	25.8
37	Romania	22,686,371	98.7
38	Kenya	21,170,413	37.2
39	Taiwan	19,757,799	612.5
40	North Korea	19,448,685	161.5
41	Uzbekistan	19,219,173	45.2
42	Sudan	18,874,610	10.1
43	Venezuela	18,226,524	20.7
44	Nepal	17,272,792	120.5
45	Malaysia	16,647,213	50.7
46	Iraq	16,543,189	37.8
47	Kazakhstan	16,394,711	6.1
48	Sri Lanka	16,287,539	252
49	Australia	15,919,252	2.1
50	Uganda	14,959,650	75.9
51	Netherlands	14,678,769	433.1
52	Saudi Arabia	14,619,745	6.8
53	Mozambique	13,934,211	17.7
54	Ghana	13,662,438	60
55	Afghanistan	13,056,450	20
56	Chile	12,344,445	16.6
57	Syria	11,268,554	60.6
58	Yemen	11,219,340	21.3
59	Cameroon	10,778,634	22.8
60	Madagascar	10,621,680	18.3
61	Hungary	10,612,740	118.4
62	Czechia	10,311,597	133.5
63	Cuba	10,278,554	93.6
64	Côte d'Ivoire	10,263,612	32.3
65	Angola	10,104,877	8.1
66	Belarus	10,097,446	49.8
67	Greece	10,031,651	76.8
68	Portugal	9,915,289	108.4
69	Belgium	9,870,200	326
70	Ecuador	9,545,158	34.5
71	Zimbabwe	9,188,403	23.8
72	Bulgaria	8,971,958	82.7
73	Cambodia	8,481,182	48
74	Sweden	8,421,403	20.5
75	Mali	7,965,610	6.5
76	Guatemala	7,928,409	74
77	Serbia	7,755,901	100.1
78	Tunisia	7,742,353	49.8
79	Burkina Faso	7,598,445	27.8
80	Malawi	7,596,162	80.7
81	Austria	7,578,903	91.9
82	Niger	7,211,723	5.7
83	Azerbaijan	7,098,945	85.9
84	Zambia	7,000,868	9.4
85	Somalia	6,939,075	11.1
86	Senegal	6,727,582	34.9
87	Switzerland	6,654,625	166.4
88	Dominican Republic	6,630,738	137.2
89	Rwanda	6,448,300	261.4
90	Haiti	6,335,271	229.9
91	Bolivia	6,156,369	5.7
92	Hong Kong	5,584,510	5,204.6
93	Chad	5,580,968	4.4
94	Guinea	5,279,172	21.5
95	Georgia	5,239,970	75.2
96	Slovakia	5,199,318	108.1
97	South Sudan	5,172,531	8
98	Denmark	5,127,024	120.8
99	Burundi	5,040,121	196.3
100	Finland	4,931,729	16.2
101	Tajikistan	4,864,637	34.4
102	El Salvador	4,850,135	234.1
103	Croatia	4,484,310	80.1
104	Benin	4,376,677	39.6
105	Honduras	4,375,959	39.1
106	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4,266,650	83.4
107	Kyrgyzstan	4,253,647	22.2
108	Moldova	4,216,682	128.2
109	Israel	4,191,740	195
110	Norway	4,186,147	13.8
111	Sierra Leone	3,979,114	55.6
112	Laos	3,869,313	16.8
113	Paraguay	3,849,890	9.7
114	Libya	3,775,716	2.1
115	Papua New Guinea	3,673,735	8.1
116	Lithuania	3,653,339	58.3
117	Armenia	3,591,617	127.3
118	Ireland	3,539,900	51.4
119	Puerto Rico	3,444,468	388.4
120	Turkmenistan	3,410,704	7.3
121	New Zealand	3,352,493	12.7
122	Nicaragua	3,322,384	27.7
123	Togo	3,287,652	60.5
124	Lebanon	3,285,734	321.2
125	Albania	3,075,321	112.2
126	Uruguay	3,044,980	17.4
127	Jordan	2,867,272	32.3
128	Central African Republic	2,824,776	4.5
129	Eritrea	2,812,612	27.8
130	Costa Rica	2,799,340	54.8
131	Singapore	2,794,552	3,941.5
132	Latvia	2,648,965	42.6
133	Jamaica	2,401,127	221.7
134	Liberia	2,306,075	23.9
135	Panama	2,264,970	30.5
136	Congo Brazzaville	2,038,305	6
137	Mongolia	1,947,193	1.3
138	Slovenia	1,945,870	96.6
139	Kuwait	1,887,220	105.9
140	North Macedonia	1,856,378	73
141	Mauritania	1,805,394	1.8
142	Kosovo	1,753,440	161.1
143	Lesotho	1,617,149	53.3
144	Oman	1,611,672	5.2
145	Estonia	1,562,224	36.9
146	United Arab Emirates	1,524,243	18.2
147	Namibia	1,270,361	1.5
148	Trinidad and Tobago	1,189,927	232
149	Botswana	1,147,348	2
150	West Bank	1,121,302	198.8
151	Mauritius	1,036,272	510.5
152	Guinea-Bissau	928,188	33
153	Gabon	893,874	3.5
154	The Gambia	841,488	83.2
155	Eswatini	777,809	45.2
156	Guyana	764,913	3.9
157	Fiji	719,672	39.4
158	Cyprus	701,618	75.9
159	Timor-Leste	685,227	46.1
160	Bhutan	590,927	15.4
161	Montenegro	569,473	42.3
162	Gaza Strip	569,331	1,581.5
163	Bahrain	455,777	599.7
164	Djibouti	407,254	17.6
165	Suriname	406,874	2.6
166	Comoros	401,420	179.6
167	Qatar	386,764	33.4
168	Luxembourg	371,660	143.7
169	Malta	349,289	1,105.3
170	Equatorial Guinea	342,435	12.2
171	Cabo Verde	325,869	80.8
172	Macau	322,983	11,535.1
173	Solomon Islands	291,304	10.4
174	Barbados	259,251	602.9
175	Iceland	244,676	2.4
176	The Bahamas	234,515	23.4
177	Brunei	231,818	44
178	Maldives	192,207	645
179	French Polynesia	185,827	48.6
180	Belize	181,402	8
181	Samoa	161,096	57.1
182	New Caledonia	158,733	8.7
183	Curaçao	151,458	341.1
184	Vanuatu	142,274	11.7
185	Saint Lucia	134,180	221.4
186	Guam	125,724	231.1
187	Sao Tome and Principe	108,595	112.7
188	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	105,495	271.2
189	U.S. Virgin Islands	100,901	289.9
190	Federated States of Micronesia	97,727	139.2
191	Tonga	95,347	133
192	Grenada	94,064	273.4
193	Jersey	81,279	700.7
194	Dominica	71,815	95.6
195	Seychelles	68,460	150.5
196	Kiribati	65,596	80.9
197	Isle of Man	65,450	114.4
198	Antigua and Barbuda	64,418	145.4
199	Guernsey	59,441	762.1
200	Aruba	59,177	328.8
201	Bermuda	56,831	1,052.4
202	Greenland	54,095	0
203	Andorra	47,671	101.9
204	Faroe Islands	46,683	33.5
205	Saint Kitts and Nevis	42,474	162.7
206	American Samoa	41,876	211.5
207	Marshall Islands	41,636	230
208	Gibraltar	29,526	4,218
209	Monaco	28,883	14,441.5
210	Liechtenstein	27,546	172.2
211	Northern Mariana Islands	25,400	53.8
212	San Marino	22,957	376.3
213	Sint Maarten	22,790	670.3
214	Cayman Islands	22,072	83.6
215	Saint Martin	21,628	400.5
216	Cook Islands	17,670	74.9
217	Palau	14,264	31.1
218	British Virgin Islands	14,099	93.4
219	Wallis and Futuna	13,297	93.6
220	Montserrat	11,087	108.7
221	Turks and Caicos Islands	10,163	10.7
222	Nauru	8,905	424
223	Tuvalu	8,549	328.8
224	Anguilla	7,533	82.8
225	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	6,544	16.6
226	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	6,248	25.8
227	Saint Barthelemy	4,402	176.1

Data from US Census International Database