| Historical Demographics | ||
|---|---|---|
 Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus | ||
| Articles | ||
| Demographic history | ||
| Historical demography | ||
| World population estimates | ||
| List of Countries by Population | ||
| 1939 | 1989 | 2000 |
This is alist of countries by population in 1989, providing an overview of the world population before thefall of the Iron Curtain.
While the population data[1] is almost exclusively dated 1989, political developments before the summer of 1990 are taken into account, includingYemeni unification andNamibian independence but notGerman reunification which was finalised only in October, thebreakup of Yugoslavia anddissolution of the Soviet Union took place two years later, and thedissolution of Czechoslovakia three years later.
The numbers given inAktuell '91[1] are fully compatible with the data given by the U.S. Census Bureau,[2] where they can be compared, as the US Census Data refers to modern national borders instead of 1989 borders. Similar remarks apply to 1990 estimates in theList of countries by past and future population which also only apply to modern-day national borders. See alsoSoviet Census (1989) and1990 United States census for comparison.
| Rank | Country | Population 1989 estimate | Percentage of world's population |
|---|---|---|---|
| – | World population | 5,230,452,409[3] | |
| 1 |  China | 1,110,000,000 | 21.2% |
| 2 |  India | 814,000,000 | 15.5% |
| 3 |  Soviet UnionRepublics
| 287,800,000 | 5.5% |
| 4 |  United States | 250,140,000 | 4.7% |
| 5 |  Indonesia | 175,000,000 | 3.3% |
| 6 |  Brazil | 147,500,000 | 2.8% |
| 7 |  Japan | 123,000,000 | 2.3% |
| 8 |  Bangladesh | 112,800,000 | 2.1% |
| 9 |  Pakistan | 107,000,000 | 2.0% |
| 10 |  Nigeria | 92,800,000 | 1.8% |
| 11 |  Mexico | 84,900,000 | 1.6% |
| 12 |  Vietnam | 64,400,000 | 1.2% |
| 13 |  United KingdomOverseas territories
| 62,800,000 | 1.2% |
| 14 |  West Germany | 62,000,000 | 1.1% |
| 15 |  Philippines | 59,200,000 | 1.1% |
| 16 |  Italy | 57,500,000 | 1.0% |
| 17 |  France | 56,000,000 | 1.0% |
| 18 |  Turkey | 55,400,000 | 1.0% |
| 19 |  Egypt | 55,000,000 | 1.0% |
| 20 |  Thailand | 55,000,000 | 1.0% |
| 21 |  Iran | 55,000,000 | 1.0% |
| 22 |  Ethiopia | 47,700,000 | 0.9% |
| 23 |  South Korea | 42,400,000 | 0.8% |
| 24 |  Myanmar | 39,900,000 | 0.7% |
| 25 |  Spain | 39,200,000 | 0.7% |
| 26 |  Poland | 37,900,000 | 0.7% |
| 27 |  South Africabantustans[4]
| 37,360,000 | 0.7% |
| 28 |  Zaire | 34,000,000 | 0.6% |
| 29 |  Argentina | 32,400,000 | 0.6% |
| 30 |  Colombia | 32,300,000 | 0.6% |
| 31 |  Canada | 26,200,000 | 0.5% |
| 32 |  Morocco | 25,400,000 | 0.4% |
| 33 |  Sudan | 25,000,000 | 0.4% |
| 34 |  Tanzania | 24,700,000 | 0.4% |
| 35 |  Algeria | 24,700,000 | 0.4% |
| 36 |  YugoslaviaRepublics
| 23,800,000 | 0.4% |
| 37 |  Kenya | 23,700,000 | 0.4% |
| 38 |  Romania | 23,200,000 | 0.4% |
| 39 |  North Korea | 22,000,000 | 0.4% |
| 40 |  Peru | 21,800,000 | 0.4% |
| 41 |  Taiwan | 20,100,000 | 0.3% |
| 42 |  Venezuela | 19,400,000 | 0.3% |
| 43 |  Nepal | 18,800,000 | 0.3% |
| 44 |  Iraq | 17,600,000 | 0.3% |
| 45 |  Sri Lanka | 17,500,000 | 0.3% |
| 46 |  Malaysia | 17,400,000 | 0.3% |
| 47 |  Uganda | 16,800,000 | 0.3% |
| 48 |  Australia | 16,800,000 | 0.3% |
| 49 |  East Germany | 16,400,000 | 0.3% |
| 50 |  Czechoslovakia | 15,700,000 | 0.3% |
| 51 |  Afghanistan | 15,500,000 | 0.2% |
| 52 |  Mozambique | 15,300,000 | 0.2% |
| 53 |  Netherlands | 14,900,000 | 0.2% |
| 54 |  Ghana | 14,100,000 | 0.2% |
| 55 |  Saudi Arabia | 12,700,000 | 0.2% |
| 56 |  Chile | 12,700,000 | 0.2% |
| 57 |  Syria | 12,200,000 | 0.2% |
| 58 |  Ivory Coast | 11,800,000 | 0.2% |
| 59 |  Madagascar | 11,100,000 | 0.2% |
| 60 |  Cameroon | 10,900,000 | 0.2% |
| 61 |  Hungary | 10,600,000 | 0.2% |
| 62 |  Cuba | 10,600,000 | 0.2% |
| 63 |  Ecuador | 10,500,000 | 0.2% |
| 64 |  PortugalOverseas territories
| 10,300,000 | 0.19% |
| 65 |  Greece | 10,000,000 | 0.19% |
| 66 |  Belgium | 9,900,000 | 0.18% |
| 67 |  Zimbabwe | 9,100,000 | 0.17% |
| 68 |  Bulgaria | 9,000,000 | 0.17% |
| 69 |  Angola | 9,000,000 | 0.17% |
| 70 |  Guatemala | 8,900,000 | 0.17% |
| 71 |  Somalia | 8,600,000 | 0.16% |
| 72 |  Sweden | 8,500,000 | 0.16% |
| 73 |  North Yemen | 8,500,000 | 0.16% |
| 74 |  Mali | 8,500,000 | 0.16% |
| 75 |  Malawi | 8,100,000 | 0.15% |
| 76 |  Tunisia | 8,000,000 | 0.15% |
| 77 |  Cambodia | 7,900,000 | 0.15% |
| 78 |  Zambia | 7,800,000 | 0.14% |
| 79 |  Senegal | 7,700,000 | 0.14% |
| 80 |  Burkina Faso | 7,700,000 | 0.14% |
| 81 |  Austria | 7,600,000 | 0.14% |
| 82 |  Niger | 7,400,000 | 0.14% |
| 83 |  Rwanda | 7,300,000 | 0.13% |
| 84 |  Dominican Republic | 7,300,000 | 0.13% |
| 85 |  Bolivia | 7,000,000 | 0.13% |
| 86 |  Switzerland | 6,700,000 | 0.12% |
| 87 |  Haiti | 6,200,000 | 0.11% |
| 88 |  Guinea | 6,100,000 | 0.11% |
| 89 |  Chad | 5,700,000 | 0.10% |
| 90 |  El Salvador | 5,500,000 | 0.10% |
| 91 |  Burundi | 5,200,000 | 0.099% |
| 92 |  Honduras | 5,100,000 | 0.097% |
| 93 |  Denmark | 5,100,000 | 0.097% |
| 94 |  Finland | 4,970,000 | 0.095% |
| 95 |  People's Republic of Benin | 4,600,000 | 0.087% |
| 96 |  Sierra Leone | 4,300,000 | 0.082% |
| 97 |  Libya | 4,300,000 | 0.082% |
| 98 |  Norway | 4,200,000 | 0.080% |
| 99 |  Paraguay | 4,000,000 | 0.076% |
| 100 |  Laos | 3,900,000 | 0.074% |
| 101 |  Jordan | 3,900,000 | 0.074% |
| 102 |  Nicaragua | 3,700,000 | 0.070% |
| 103 |  Ireland | 3,700,000 | 0.070% |
| 104 |  Papua New Guinea | 3,600,000 | 0.068% |
| 105 |  New Zealand | 3,400,000 | 0.065% |
| 106 |  Togo | 3,200,000 | 0.061% |
| 107 |  Albania | 3,200,000 | 0.061% |
| 108 |  Central African Republic | 3,000,000 | 0.057% |
| 109 |  Uruguay | 3,000,000 | 0.057% |
| 110 |  Lebanon | 2,900,000 | 0.055% |
| 111 |  Costa Rica | 2,900,000 | 0.055% |
| 112 |  Singapore | 2,650,000 | 0.050% |
| 113 |  Liberia | 2,500,000 | 0.047% |
| 114 |  Israel | 2,500,000 | 0.047% |
| 115 |  South Yemen | 2,500,000 | |
| 116 |  Jamaica | 2,400,000 | 0.045% |
| 117 |  Panama | 2,300,000 | 0.043% |
| 118 |  Mongolia | 2,100,000 | 0.040% |
| 119 |  Palestine | 2,000,000 | 0.038% |
| 120 |  People's Republic of the Congo | 2,000,000 | 0.038% |
| 121 |  Kuwait | 1,970,000 | 0.037% |
| 122 |  Mauritania | 1,800,000 | 0.034% |
| 123 |  Lesotho | 1,700,000 | 0.032% |
| 124 |  United Arab Emirates | 1,500,000 | 0.028% |
| 125 |  Bhutan | 1,500,000 | 0.028% |
| 126 |  Oman | 1,400,000 | 0.026% |
| 127 |  Trinidad and Tobago | 1,300,000 | 0.024% |
| 128 |  Botswana | 1,200,000 | 0.022% |
| 129 |  Gabon | 1,100,000 | 0.021% |
| 130 |  Mauritius | 1,050,000 | 0.020% |
| 131 |  Guinea-Bissau | 929,000 | 0.017% |
| 132 |  The Gambia | 840,000 | 0.016% |
| 133 |  Fiji | 758,000 | 0.014% |
| 134 |  Swaziland | 757,000 | 0.014% |
| 135 |  Guyana | 730,000 | 0.014% |
| 136 |  Cyprus | 696,000 | 0.013% |
| 137 |  Bahrain | 483,000 | 0.0092% |
| 138 |  Comoros | 460,000 | 0.0087% |
| 139 |  Suriname | 400,000 | 0.0076% |
| 140 |  Equatorial Guinea | 389,000 | 0.0074% |
| 141 |  Djibouti | 383,000 | 0.0073% |
| 142 |  Luxembourg | 377,000 | 0.0072% |
| 143 |  Malta | 358,000 | 0.0068% |
| 144 |  Qatar | 342,000 | 0.0065% |
| 145 |  Cape Verde | 337,000 | 0.0064% |
| 146 |  Solomon Islands | 314,000 | 0.0060% |
| 147 |  Brunei | 267,000 | 0.0051% |
| 148 |  Barbados | 256,000 | 0.0048% |
| 149 |  Iceland | 251,000 | 0.0047% |
| 150 |  Bahamas | 247,000 | 0.0047% |
| 151 |  Maldives | 202,000 | 0.0038% |
| 152 |  Belize | 180,000 | 0.0034% |
| 153 |  Samoa | 169,000 | 0.0032% |
| # |  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic | 169,000 | 0.0032% |
| 154 |  Vanuatu | 150,000 | 0.0028% |
| 155 |  Saint Lucia | 128,000 | 0.0024% |
| 156 |  São Tomé and Príncipe | 114,000 | 0.0021% |
| 157 |  Tonga | 108,000 | 0.0020% |
| 158 |  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 108,000 | 0.0020% |
| 159 |  Grenada | 100,000 | 0.0019% |
| 160 |  Antigua and Barbuda | 86,000 | 0.0016% |
| 161 |  Dominica | 76,000 | 0.0014% |
| 162 |  Seychelles | 70,000 | 0.0013% |
| 163 |  Kiribati | 67,000 | 0.0012% |
| 164 |  Andorra | 49,000 | 0.00093% |
| 165 |  Saint Kitts and Nevis | 40,000 | 0.00076% |
| 166 |  Liechtenstein | 30,000 | 0.00057% |
| 167 |  Monaco | 29,000 | 0.00055% |
| 168 |  San Marino | 23,000 | 0.00043% |
| 169 |  Tuvalu | 9,000 | 0.00017% |
| 170 |  Nauru | 8,100 | 0.00015% |
