Data for 1959

Total Population, 1959

Name: Total Population, 1959
Creator: UN DESA Population Division
License: https://population.un.org/wpp/downloads

1959, as UN DESA Population Division’s 2024 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Total Population, 1959 covers 222 countries. China is highest, at 652,708,217; Vatican City is lowest, at 920. The middle country reads 2,284,255. Against 1958, 221 values changed (213 up, 8 down), the same countries are covered.

Download CSV Cite this year

Share this page

Total Population · Data for 1959

HighestChina

652,708,217

LowestVatican City

920

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

222countries
1measure
1959the year it describes
222distinct valueswhole numbers, as published
Sep 26, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 3.0 IGOlicence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Total Population, 1959, as published. UN DESA Population Division ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 222 countries · select a heading to sort

Total Population, 1959: every country, as published by UN DESA Population Division.
derived
1	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	652,708,217
2	India`IND`Southern Asia	425,780,669
3	United States`USA`Northern America	177,145,764
4	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	118,293,890
5	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	95,622,978
6	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	85,892,869
7	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	72,241,717
8	Brazil`BRA`South America	70,214,470
9	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	52,226,471
10	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	50,441,762
11	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	49,219,446
12	France`FRA`Western Europe	45,963,763
13	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	44,495,162
14	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	44,161,681
15	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	42,244,270
16	Mexico`MEX`Central America	35,627,266
17	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	31,585,547
18	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	30,140,707
19	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	29,132,527
20	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	27,526,341
21	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	26,907,607
22	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	26,226,857
23	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	26,088,013
24	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	25,298,233
25	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	21,264,010
26	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	20,878,105
27	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	20,846,775
28	Argentina`ARG`South America	20,049,609
29	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	18,187,698
30	Canada`CAN`Northern America	17,515,520
31	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	16,014,974
32	Colombia`COL`South America	15,136,215
33	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	14,891,582
34	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	11,452,989
35	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	11,348,103
36	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	11,317,007
37	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	11,189,622
38	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	10,644,175
39	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	10,060,036
40	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	9,938,912
41	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	9,936,841
42	Peru`PER`South America	9,883,654
43	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	9,629,264
44	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	9,508,391
45	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	9,430,152
46	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	9,122,175
47	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	9,045,739
48	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	8,869,270
49	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	8,840,371
50	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	8,297,710
51	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	8,106,484
52	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	8,081,319
53	Chile`CHL`South America	7,983,428
54	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	7,935,471
55	Venezuela`VEN`South America	7,869,223
56	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	7,794,173
57	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	7,755,786
58	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	7,453,559
59	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	7,423,426
60	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	7,422,745
61	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	7,092,332
62	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	7,014,265
63	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	6,870,380
64	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	6,735,541
65	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	6,635,217
66	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	6,610,402
67	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	5,415,920
68	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	5,332,930
69	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	5,325,639
70	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	5,262,800
71	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	5,145,102
72	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	5,070,071
73	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	4,979,094
74	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	4,710,845
75	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	4,548,481
76	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	4,533,770
77	Ecuador`ECU`South America	4,464,756
78	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	4,394,748
79	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	4,220,905
80	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	4,182,093
81	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	4,064,674
82	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	3,981,694
83	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	3,946,494
84	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	3,862,825
85	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	3,789,689
86	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	3,692,801
87	Bolivia`BOL`South America	3,628,191
88	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	3,552,817
89	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	3,548,941
90	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	3,544,159
91	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	3,495,773
92	Niger`NER`Western Africa	3,405,456
93	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	3,248,318
94	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	3,212,367
95	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	3,165,302
96	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	3,057,054
97	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	3,007,367
98	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	2,989,322
99	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	2,974,544
100	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	2,932,394
101	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	2,888,785
102	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	2,839,218
103	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	2,803,090
104	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	2,722,674
105	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	2,717,537
106	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	2,709,597
107	Uruguay`URY`South America	2,497,145
108	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	2,478,914
109	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	2,348,011
110	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	2,342,068
111	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	2,333,483
112	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	2,235,026
113	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	2,149,295
114	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	2,096,981
115	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	2,074,485
116	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	2,045,284
117	Honduras`HND`Central America	2,004,320
118	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	1,941,504
119	Paraguay`PRY`South America	1,840,964
120	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	1,836,340
121	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	1,801,008
122	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	1,742,770
123	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	1,729,787
124	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	1,671,331
125	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	1,643,757
126	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	1,628,235
127	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	1,595,011
128	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	1,593,420
129	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	1,592,111
130	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	1,567,754
131	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	1,433,966
132	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	1,417,075
133	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	1,278,588
134	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	1,209,939
135	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	1,112,563
136	Panama`PAN`Central America	1,093,801
137	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	1,055,891
138	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	1,030,155
139	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	958,431
140	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	950,563
141	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	947,411
142	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	825,018
143	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	807,609
144	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	803,606
145	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	714,947
146	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	664,835
147	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	580,919
148	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	575,034
149	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	574,559
150	Guyana`GUY`South America	553,067
151	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	521,317
152	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	506,805
153	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	504,877
154	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	464,899
155	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	461,269
156	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	392,760
157	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	387,544
158	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	337,509
159	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	330,353
160	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	312,034
161	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	279,525
162	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	264,996
163	Suriname`SUR`South America	255,386
164	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	228,780
165	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	217,815
166	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	206,354
167	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	194,286
168	Macau`MAC`Eastern Asia	178,425
169	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	171,994
170	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	158,921
171	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	136,125
172	Curaçao`CUW`Caribbean	129,443
173	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	124,937
174	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	110,917
175	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	109,561
176	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	92,423
177	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	92,352
178	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	89,057
179	Belize`BLZ`Central America	88,990
180	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	83,842
181	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	83,087
182	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	82,150
183	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	81,899
184	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	77,260
185	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	68,102
186	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	67,291
187	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	64,350
188	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	62,669
189	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	58,108
190	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	55,469
191	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	54,526
192	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	53,981
193	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	49,714
194	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	46,044
195	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	42,464
196	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	41,659
197	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	41,642
198	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	33,656
199	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	33,651
200	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	31,690
201	Greenland`GRL`Northern America	30,727
202	Gibraltar`GIB`Southern Europe	21,869
203	Monaco`MCO`Western Europe	21,646
204	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	19,909
205	Cook Islands`COK`Polynesia	17,293
206	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	16,170
207	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	15,073
208	Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	14,197
209	Montserrat`MSR`Caribbean	12,111
210	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	9,101
211	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	8,771
212	Northern Mariana Islands`MNP`Micronesia	8,497
213	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	8,269
214	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	7,814
215	Anguilla`AIA`Caribbean	5,777
216	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	5,553
217	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	5,534
218	Niue`NIU`Polynesia	4,806
219	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	4,454
220	Saint Martin`MAF`Caribbean	4,112
221	Sint Maarten`SXM`Caribbean	2,521
222	Vatican City`VAT`Southern Europe	920

02In 1959

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1China652,708,217
2India425,780,669
3United States177,145,764
4Russia118,293,890
5Japan95,622,978

Lowest

222Vatican City920
221Sint Maarten2,521
220Saint Martin4,112
219Nauru4,454
218Niue4,806

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 2,284,255. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031958 → 1959

Since 1958

What changed between 1958 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
221values changed, of 222 in both
213 · 8rose · fell
1unchanged

Rose most

India415,777,442 → 425,780,669+10,003,227
China644,219,479 → 652,708,217+8,488,738
United States174,215,310 → 177,145,764+2,930,454
Indonesia83,592,762 → 85,892,869+2,300,107
Brazil68,092,141 → 70,214,470+2,122,329

Fell most

Ireland2,853,999 → 2,839,218−14,781
Macau183,668 → 178,425−5,243
Isle of Man50,525 → 49,714−811
Saint Lucia92,715 → 92,352−363
Montserrat12,207 → 12,111−96

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2024 release
Every year in this series comes from UN DESA Population Division’s 2024 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1959.
The position is ours
UN DESA Population Division publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 222 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
222 rows · 6.4 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download population-1959-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
UN DESA Population Division’s own file, on its own site.
WPP2024_TotalPopulationBySex.csv.gz

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

UN DESA Population Division (1959). Total Population, 1959 [data set], describing 1959. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/population/1959

0674 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Total Population, 1958
222 countries
The year after ›
Total Population, 1960
222 countries
All of them
Total Population: every year
74 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions