1997 Population

In 1997, the world’s population was estimated at approximately 5.8 billion people. Asia was by far the most populous continent, home to over 3.5 billion individuals, with China (about 1.23 billion) and India (around 970 million) leading as the world’s two most populous countries. Africa’s population was about 760 million, with Nigeria and Egypt as its demographic giants. Europe had around 727 million people, with Russia and Germany as the largest national populations. Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for roughly 485 million people, with Brazil and Mexico as regional leaders. North America’s population was about 295 million, primarily concentrated in the United States (around 272 million) and Canada. Oceania, including Australia and the Pacific Islands, had a much smaller population, totaling about 30 million. These figures reflect a world in which population growth was rapid, particularly in developing regions, setting the stage for significant demographic changes in the decades to follow.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	1,244,536,233	133.4
2	India	994,708,132	334.6
3	United States	272,646,925	29.8
4	Indonesia	204,258,114	112.8
5	Brazil	168,286,349	20.1
6	Russia	149,339,752	9.1
7	Pakistan	137,158,062	177.9
8	Japan	125,924,562	345.5
9	Bangladesh	121,880,765	936.3
10	Nigeria	115,773,046	127.1
11	Mexico	95,658,972	49.2
12	Germany	82,011,073	235.2
13	Vietnam	76,214,807	245.8
14	Philippines	71,696,254	240.5
15	Iran	64,228,293	41.9
16	Turkey	63,171,756	82.1
17	Egypt	61,647,326	61.9
18	France	60,362,851	94.3
19	Thailand	59,911,064	117.3
20	United Kingdom	58,494,072	241.8
21	Ethiopia	58,297,071	53.2
22	Italy	57,492,894	195.5
23	Ukraine	50,371,404	86.9
24	Congo Kinshasa	48,564,598	21.4
25	South Korea	45,807,825	472.6
26	Burma	44,766,116	68.5
27	South Africa	43,199,225	35.6
28	Spain	39,907,236	80
29	Colombia	39,155,201	37.7
30	Poland	38,654,956	127
31	Argentina	36,102,182	13.2
32	Tanzania	30,608,253	34.6
33	Canada	30,305,602	3.3
34	Algeria	29,318,183	12.3
35	Kenya	28,481,047	50
36	Morocco	27,477,506	38.3
37	Sudan	25,810,607	13.9
38	Peru	24,600,659	19.2
39	Uzbekistan	23,952,217	56.3
40	Venezuela	22,946,096	26
41	Romania	22,557,739	98.1
42	North Korea	22,443,282	186.4
43	Nepal	22,241,375	155.2
44	Taiwan	21,638,532	670.8
45	Malaysia	21,601,986	65.7
46	Uganda	21,017,415	106.6
47	Iraq	20,868,745	47.7
48	Afghanistan	20,769,357	31.8
49	Saudi Arabia	19,810,208	9.2
50	Sri Lanka	18,367,446	284.2
51	Australia	18,197,799	2.4
52	Ghana	17,747,204	78
53	Mozambique	17,421,861	22.2
54	Kazakhstan	16,052,382	5.9
55	Yemen	15,741,184	29.8
56	Netherlands	15,622,141	460.9
57	Côte d'Ivoire	15,499,730	48.7
58	Syria	15,258,081	82.1
59	Chile	14,591,015	19.6
60	Cameroon	14,571,701	30.8
61	Madagascar	14,353,882	24.7
62	Angola	14,282,750	11.5
63	Cambodia	11,826,621	67
64	Ecuador	11,792,472	42.6
65	Zimbabwe	11,556,063	29.9
66	Cuba	11,013,907	100.3
67	Greece	10,752,345	82.3
68	Burkina Faso	10,530,454	38.5
69	Guatemala	10,488,913	97.9
70	Czechia	10,300,708	133.3
71	Hungary	10,229,552	114.2
72	Belgium	10,199,787	336.9
73	Portugal	10,156,414	111
74	Belarus	10,128,530	49.9
75	Mali	10,036,744	8.2
76	Malawi	9,982,077	106.1
77	Niger	9,717,046	7.7
78	Zambia	9,326,306	12.5
79	Tunisia	9,239,267	59.5
80	Sweden	8,897,619	21.7
81	Senegal	8,806,978	45.7
82	Azerbaijan	8,223,513	99.5
83	Bulgaria	8,121,168	74.9
84	Austria	8,069,875	97.9
85	Dominican Republic	7,862,023	162.7
86	Haiti	7,791,775	282.7
87	Serbia	7,693,801	99.3
88	Bolivia	7,677,668	7.1
89	Rwanda	7,563,089	306.6
90	Chad	7,349,130	5.8
91	Guinea	7,295,772	29.7
92	Switzerland	7,202,164	180.1
93	Somalia	6,751,082	10.8
94	Hong Kong	6,492,649	6,050.9
95	Benin	6,054,686	54.7
96	Honduras	5,881,443	52.6
97	Tajikistan	5,864,691	41.4
98	Burundi	5,819,653	226.6
99	South Sudan	5,644,161	8.8
100	Israel	5,640,240	262.4
101	El Salvador	5,620,865	271.3
102	Slovakia	5,383,010	111.9
103	Denmark	5,283,663	124.5
104	Finland	5,134,406	16.9
105	Paraguay	5,080,750	12.8
106	Laos	5,054,901	21.9
107	Papua New Guinea	4,974,112	11
108	Georgia	4,916,657	70.5
109	Kyrgyzstan	4,750,455	24.8
110	Libya	4,699,892	2.7
111	Nicaragua	4,591,033	38.3
112	Jordan	4,458,246	50.2
113	Croatia	4,424,536	79
114	Togo	4,424,324	81.4
115	Norway	4,405,673	14.5
116	Moldova	4,304,362	130.9
117	Turkmenistan	4,200,595	8.9
118	Sierra Leone	4,047,542	56.5
119	Singapore	3,854,156	5,436
120	Puerto Rico	3,759,430	423.9
121	New Zealand	3,738,420	14.1
122	Lebanon	3,735,317	365.1
123	Ireland	3,681,226	53.4
124	Central African Republic	3,667,155	5.9
125	Costa Rica	3,625,320	71
126	Eritrea	3,613,539	35.8
127	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3,590,694	70.1
128	Lithuania	3,495,368	55.8
129	Albania	3,225,413	117.7
130	Uruguay	3,180,924	18.2
131	Armenia	3,112,663	110.4
132	Panama	2,756,814	37.1
133	Jamaica	2,714,838	250.7
134	United Arab Emirates	2,704,660	32.4
135	Congo Brazzaville	2,695,526	7.9
136	Latvia	2,428,216	39
137	Mongolia	2,372,034	1.5
138	Liberia	2,317,085	24.1
139	Mauritania	2,315,223	2.2
140	Oman	2,259,698	7.3
141	Kosovo	2,086,410	191.6
142	Slovenia	2,011,611	99.8
143	North Macedonia	1,984,861	78
144	Lesotho	1,853,740	61.1
145	West Bank	1,814,219	321.7
146	Kuwait	1,801,707	101.1
147	Namibia	1,743,310	2.1
148	Botswana	1,545,888	2.7
149	Estonia	1,413,351	33.3
150	Trinidad and Tobago	1,253,034	244.4
151	The Gambia	1,235,060	122
152	Mauritius	1,148,349	565.7
153	Guinea-Bissau	1,144,904	40.7
154	Gabon	1,104,453	4.3
155	Eswatini	1,031,563	60
156	Gaza Strip	1,018,271	2,828.5
157	Timor-Leste	924,395	62.1
158	Cyprus	879,853	95.2
159	Fiji	785,590	43
160	Guyana	755,938	3.8
161	Montenegro	623,786	46.4
162	Bhutan	618,427	16.1
163	Bahrain	610,845	803.7
164	Djibouti	590,081	25.5
165	Qatar	547,595	47.3
166	Comoros	506,252	226.5
167	Equatorial Guinea	474,676	16.9
168	Suriname	445,279	2.9
169	Luxembourg	420,928	162.8
170	Macau	416,985	14,892.3
171	Cabo Verde	404,001	100.2
172	Solomon Islands	396,997	14.2
173	Malta	385,162	1,218.9
174	Brunei	303,092	57.6
175	Maldives	275,713	925.2
176	The Bahamas	274,518	27.4
177	Iceland	271,190	2.7
178	Barbados	270,749	629.6
179	Belize	238,928	10.5
180	French Polynesia	223,394	58.4
181	New Caledonia	199,383	10.9
182	Vanuatu	179,491	14.7
183	Samoa	171,806	60.9
184	Saint Lucia	149,717	247.1
185	Guam	146,799	269.9
186	Curaçao	139,081	313.2
187	Sao Tome and Principe	132,090	137
188	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	108,607	279.2
189	U.S. Virgin Islands	108,357	311.4
190	Federated States of Micronesia	106,879	152.2
191	Grenada	99,568	289.4
192	Tonga	98,005	136.7
193	Aruba	86,206	478.9
194	Jersey	85,854	740.1
195	Kiribati	79,851	98.5
196	Seychelles	76,405	167.9
197	Isle of Man	73,580	128.6
198	Antigua and Barbuda	71,454	161.3
199	Dominica	70,289	93.6
200	Andorra	64,053	136.9
201	Northern Mariana Islands	62,401	132.2
202	Bermuda	61,522	1,139.3
203	Guernsey	61,173	784.3
204	Greenland	56,508	0
205	American Samoa	55,918	282.4
206	Marshall Islands	50,829	280.8
207	Saint Kitts and Nevis	44,063	168.8
208	Faroe Islands	44,048	31.6
209	Cayman Islands	34,860	132
210	Sint Maarten	31,594	929.2
211	Liechtenstein	31,325	195.8
212	Monaco	31,315	15,657.5
213	Saint Martin	31,302	579.7
214	Gibraltar	26,745	3,820.7
215	San Marino	25,735	421.9
216	British Virgin Islands	20,412	135.2
217	Palau	18,298	39.9
218	Cook Islands	17,815	75.5
219	Turks and Caicos Islands	16,542	17.4
220	Wallis and Futuna	14,251	100.4
221	Anguilla	10,439	114.7
222	Tuvalu	9,917	381.4
223	Nauru	9,866	469.8
224	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	7,063	17.9
225	Saint Barthelemy	6,553	262.1
226	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	6,420	26.5
227	Montserrat	5,950	58.3

Data from US Census International Database