Afghanistan is ~41 million
Albania is ~2.8 million
Algeria is ~45 million
Andorra is ~80,000
Angola is ~35 million
Antigua and Barbuda is ~105,000
Argentina is ~46 million
Armenia is ~3 million
Australia is ~27 million
Austria is ~9 million
Azerbaijan is ~10.3 million
Bahamas is ~410,000
Bahrain is ~1.5 million
Bangladesh is ~170 million
Barbados is ~280,000
Belarus is ~9.13 million
Belgium is ~11.8 million
Belize is ~417,300
Benin is ~14 million
Bhutan is ~780,000
Bolivia is ~12 million
Bosnia and Herzegovina is ~3.2 million
Botswana is ~2.6 million
Brazil is ~203 million
Brunei is ~450,000
Bulgaria is ~6,43 million
Burkina Faso is ~24 million
Burundi is ~14.7 million
Cabo Verde is ~600,000
Cambodia is ~17 million
Cameroon is ~29 million
Canada is ~40 million
Central African Republic is ~5.5 million
Chad is ~18 million
Chile is ~20 million
China is ~1.41 billion
Colombia is ~52 million
Comoros is ~900,000
Congo, Republic of is ~6 million
Costa Rica is ~5,2 million
Côte d’Ivoire is ~30 million
Croatia is ~3.9 million
Cuba is ~11 million
Cyprus is ~1.2 million
Czechia is ~10.9 million
Democratic Republic of Congo is ~110 million
Denmark is ~5.9 million
Djibouti is ~1.1 million
Dominica is ~75,000
Dominican Republic is ~11 million
Ecuador is ~18 million
Egypt is ~110 million
El Salvador is ~6.5 million
Equatorial Guinea is ~1.7 million
Eritrea is ~3.6 million
Estonia is ~1.3 million
Eswatini is ~1.2 million
Ethiopia is ~120 million
Fiji is ~930,000
Finland is ~5.6 million
France is ~68 million
Gabon is ~2.5 million
Gambia is ~2.8 million
Georgia is ~3.7 million
Germany is ~84 million
Ghana is ~33 million
Greece is ~10.4 million
Grenada is ~125,000
Guatemala is ~18 million
Guinea is ~14 million
Guinea-Bissau is~2.2 million
Guyana is ~800,000
Haiti is ~11.5 million
Honduras is ~10.5 million
Hungary is ~9.6 million
Iceland is ~390,000
India is ~1.43 billion
Indonesia is ~280 million
Iran is ~88 million
Iraq is ~45 million
Ireland is ~5.3 million
Israel is ~9.8 million
Italy is ~59 million
Jamaica is ~2.8 million
Japan is ~125 million
Jordan is ~11 million
Kazakhstan is ~20 million
Kenya is ~55 million
Kiribati is ~130,000
Korea, North is ~26 million
Korea, South is ~52 million
Kuwait is ~4.5 million
Kyrgyzstan is ~7 million
Laos is ~7.5 million
Latvia is ~1.9 million
Lebanon is ~5.5 million
Lesotho is ~2.3 million
Liberia is ~5.5 million
Libya is ~7 million
Liechtenstein is ~40,000
Lithuania is ~2.8 million
Luxembourg is ~670,000
Madagascar is ~30 million
Malawi is ~21 million
Malaysia is ~34 million
Maldives is ~520,000
Mali is ~24 million
Malta is is ~520,000
Marshall Islands is ~60,000
Mauritania is ~4,7 million
Mauritius is ~1,3 million
Mexico is ~130 million
Micronesia is ~115,000
Moldova is ~2.5 million
Monaco is ~39,000
Mongolia is ~3.5 million
Montenegro is ~620,000
Morocco is ~37 million
Mozambique is ~34 million
Myanmar is ~55 million
Namibia is ~2.7 million
Nauru is ~12,000
Nepal is ~30 million
Netherlands is ~18 million
New Zealand is ~5.3 million
Nicaragua is ~6.8 million
Niger is ~27 million
Nigeria is ~230 million
North Macedonia is ~1.8 million
Norway is ~5.6 million
Oman is ~5.5 million
Pakistan is ~240 million
Palau is ~18,000
Panama is ~4.5 million
Papua New Guinea is ~11 million
Paraguay is ~7 million
Peru is ~34 million
Philippines is ~118 million
Poland is ~37 million
Portugal is ~10.4 million
Qatar is ~2.7 million
Romania is ~19 million
Russia is ~146 million
Rwanda is ~14 million
Saint Kitts and Nevis is ~48,000
Saint Lucia is ~180,000
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is ~110,000
Samoa is ~225,000
San Marino is ~34,000
São Tomé and Principe is ~230,000
Saudi Arabia is ~36 million
Senegal is ~18 million
Serbia is ~6.6 million
Seychelles is ~110,000
Sierra Leone is ~8.8 million
Singapore is ~5.9 million
Slovakia is ~5.4 million
Slovenia is ~2.1 million
Solomon Islands is ~750,000
Somalia is ~17 million
South Africa is ~63 million
South Sudan is ~12 million
Spain is ~48 million
Sri Lanka is ~22 million
Sudan is ~50 million
Suriname is ~630,000
Sweden is ~10.6 million
Switzerland is ~9 million
Syria ~24 million (estimates vary due to displacement)
Tajikistan is ~10 million
Tanzania is ~68 million
Thailand is ~71 million
Timor Leste is ~1.4 million
Togo is ~9 million
Tonga is ~110,000
Trinidad and Tobago is ~1.5 million
Tunisia is ~12 million
Türkiye is ~86 million
Turkmenistan is ~6.5 million
Tuvalu is ~11,000
Uganda is ~50 million
Ukraine is ~37 million
United Arab Emirates is ~10 million
United Kingdom is ~67 million
United States is ~335 million
Uruguay is ~3.5 million
Uzbekistan is ~36 million
Vanuatu is ~330,000
Venezuela is ~28 million
Vietnam is ~101 million
Yemen is ~34 million
Zambia is ~21 million
Zimbabwe is ~16 million
These numbers tell a story that’s easy to overlook when you’re scrolling through a list. The world has 195 countries — but the population is anything but evenly spread. India and China alone are home to more than 2.8 billion people, over a third of everyone on Earth. Add the United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Brazil, and just seven countries already account for nearly half of humanity.
At the other end of the scale, some of the most fascinating places on this list have populations smaller than a single city neighbourhood. Tuvalu counts around 11,000 residents. Nauru around 12,000. San Marino just 34,000. These are sovereign nations — with their own passports, governments, cultures, and stories — yet fewer people live there than in many apartment blocks in Mumbai or New York.
Population doesn’t tell you how interesting a country is. Some of the smallest nations on this list are among the most remarkable to visit. But it does remind you of something worth keeping in mind as you travel: the world is a place of extraordinary contrasts, and the numbers behind each country are as varied as the places themselves.