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List of countries and dependencies by population

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List of countries and dependencies by population
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This article is about a list of countries and dependencies by population based on figures from official sources or, if not available, estimates and projections from the United Nations. For a list based purely on figures from the United Nations, see List of countries and dependencies by population (United Nations).
This article reflects continually changing information from hundreds of sources. You can help by updating items to more recent figures from official sources.

This is a list of countries and dependencies by population. It includes sovereign states, inhabited dependent territories and, in some cases, constituent countries of sovereign states, with inclusion within the list being primarily based on the ISO standard ISO 3166-1. For instance, the United Kingdom is considered a single entity, while the constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands are considered separately. In addition, this list includes certain states with limited recognition not found in ISO 3166-1. Also given in a percentage is each country's population compared with the world population, which the United Nations estimated at 8.232 billion as of 2025.[1]

Thumb
Cartogram of the world's population in 2018; each square represents 500,000 people.
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Method

See also: List of countries and dependencies by population density and List of regional organizations by population

Figures used in this chart are based on the most up-to-date estimates or projections by the national census authority, where available, and are usually rounded off.

Where updated national data are not available, figures are based on the estimates or projections for 2024 by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Because the compiled figures are not collected at the same time in every country, or at the same level of accuracy, the resulting numerical comparisons may create misleading conclusions. Furthermore, the addition of figures from all countries may not equal the world total.

Areas that form integral parts of sovereign states, such as the countries of the United Kingdom, are counted as part of the sovereign states concerned. Not included are other entities that are not sovereign states, such as the European Union,[a] and independent territories that do not have permanent populations, such as the Chagos Archipelago and various countries' claims to Antarctica.[2]

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Sovereign states and dependencies by population

Summarize
Perspective
Population distribution by country in June-July 2025
  1. India (17.3%)
  2. China (17.2%)
  3. United States (4.2%)
  4. Indonesia (3.5%)
  5. Pakistan (2.9%)
  6. Nigeria (2.7%)
  7. Brazil (2.6%)
  8. Bangladesh (2.1%)
  9. Russia (1.8%)
  10. Mexico (1.6%)
  11. Others (44.1%)

Note: A numbered rank is assigned to the 193 member states of the United Nations, plus the two observer states to the United Nations General Assembly. Dependent territories and constituent countries that are parts of sovereign states are not assigned a numbered rank. In addition, sovereign states with limited recognition are included, but not assigned a number rank.

More information Location, Population ...
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Explanatory notes

  1. The European Union is a sui generis supranational union whose sovereign members delegate to it by treaty certain powers that are often exercised by sovereign states. Its combined population has been estimated at 447,319,916 on 1 January 2020, and it would be ranked 3rd if it were included in the list. It has 5.46% of the world's population — see "Eurostat-Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface（TGM）table". European Commission.
  2. Includes the population of the India-administered union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
  3. Refers to mainland China; excludes China's special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, which returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 and 1999, respectively.
  4. Includes the 50 states and the District of Columbia, but excludes the territories of the United States.
  5. Excludes the population of Pakistan-administered regions of the Kashmir; Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, which, according to 2017 Pakistani census, had a population of 4,045,367 and 1,492,924 respectively.
  6. The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics has a projection of 181 million for 2025, but this method derives from a base year of 2011. This same projection overcounted the population for 2022 by about 4.4 million.[12]
  7. Includes the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, administrative areas on the Crimean Peninsula occupied by Russia. The population does not include the four annexed Ukrainian oblasts. The Ukrainian government and most of the world's other states consider the Crimean Peninsula, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia parts of Ukraine's territory.
  8. Includes the integral 18 regions of France (including 5 overseas departments and regions). Excludes France's 5 overseas collectivities: French Polynesia, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and Wallis and Futuna, and the sui generis collectivity of New Caledonia, which are shown separately. The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (an Antarctic territorial claim hosting only government officials and research station staff) and Clipperton Island (an uninhabited state private property of France) are not listed at all due to their extraordinary nature.
  9. Excludes the three British Crown Dependencies and the 14 British Overseas Territories, listed separately. Four British Overseas Territories are not listed due to their extraordinary nature. The four not listed are British Antarctic Territory (an Antarctic territorial claim hosting only government officials and research station staff), the British Indian Ocean Territory (a military base), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (hosts only government officials and research station staff), and the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (a military base where permanent residency is limited to citizens of the Republic of Cyprus).
  10. Includes Zanzibar.
  11. Does not include the Rohingya people. Some regions were estimated by satellite.[34]
  12. The last census was conducted in 1979. Sources disagree about the current population: All figures are mid-year.
  13. Includes the regions Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra and Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab, the disputed territory of Western Sahara administered by Morocco and excluding Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (see Western Sahara conflict).
  14. Excludes the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine's de jure territory which is occupied by Russia (however, includes the Donbas region, partly occupied by Russia).
  15. Excludes the external territories of Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island.
  16. Taiwan includes Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor islands.
  17. Includes Somaliland.
  18. Excludes the three constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean Sea (Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten), but includes the three special municipalities of the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba).
  19. Includes East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Also includes Israeli settlers within Area C of the West Bank.
  20. Excludes Kosovo.
  21. Excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
  22. Includes Åland.
  23. Includes Svalbard.
  24. Excludes East Jerusalem or Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
  25. Excludes the two self-governing associated states of the Cook Islands and Niue, and the dependent territory of Tokelau.
  26. Excludes Abkhazia (242,862, census 2011) and South Ossetia (53,559, census 2015).
  27. Eritrea has never conducted an official government census.[145] Sources disagree about the current population: All figures are mid-year.
  28. Excludes Transnistria.
  29. Excludes Northern Cyprus.
  30. De facto independent, de jure part of Cyprus.
  31. De facto independent, de jure part of Moldova.
  32. The political status of Abkhazia is disputed. Having unilaterally declared independence from Georgia in 1992, Abkhazia is formally recognised as an independent state by 5 UN member states (two other states previously recognised it but then withdrew their recognition), while the remainder of the international community recognizes it as de jure Georgian territory. Georgia continues to claim the area as its own territory, designating it as Russian-occupied territory.
  33. South Ossetia's status is disputed. It considers itself to be an independent state, but this is recognised by only a few other countries. The Georgian government and most of the world's other states consider South Ossetia de jure a part of Georgia's territory.
  34. 882 residents regardless of citizenship, 618 citizens regardless of residence, 246 resident citizens.[254]
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References

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