| Historical Demographics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus | |||
| Articles | |||
| Historical demography | |||
| World population estimates | |||
| List of countries by population | |||
| 1900 | 1939 | 1989 | |
This is a list of countries by population in 1939 (including any dependent, occupied or colonized territories for empires), providing an approximate overview of the world population before World War II.
Estimate numbers are from the beginning of the year, and exact population figures are for countries that were having a census in the year 1939 (which were on various dates in that year).
| Rank | Country/territory | Population | Percentage of world's population |
|---|---|---|---|
| World[1] | 2,300,000,000 | – | |
| 1 | 545,463,825 | ||
| 2 | Japanese Empire | 304,119,000 | |
| 3 | 267,568,000 | ||
| 4 | [2] | 170,918,811 | |
| 5 |  United States | 138,499,069 | |
| 6 | French Empire[3] | 111,524,472 | |
| 7 | [4] | 86,755,281 | |
| 8 | 78,366,300 | ||
| 9 | Italian Empire[5] | 57,596,517 | |
| 10 | 40,289,000 | ||
| 11 | 34,849,000 | ||
| 12 | Spanish Empire | 26,822,800 | |
| 13 | Belgian Empire | 22,491,000 | |
| 14 | 19,933,800 | ||
| 15 |  Mexico | 19,320,000 | |
| 16 | Portuguese Empire | 18,595,400 | |
| 17 |  Turkey | 17,370,000 | |
| 18 | 15,490,000 | ||
| 19 | Thailand | 15,023,000 | |
| 20 | 14,340,000 | ||
| 21 |  Argentina | 13,948,000 | |
| 22 |  Canada[6] | 11,267,000 | |
| 23 | 10,160,000 | ||
| 24 | 9,129,000 | ||
| 25 |  Colombia | 8,896,000 | |
| 26 | 7,222,000 | ||
| 27 | 6,970,000 | ||
| 28 |  Peru | 6,572,000 | |
| 29 | 6,458,000 | ||
| 30 |  Sweden | 6,341,000 | |
| 31 | Nepal | 6,087,000 | |
| 32 |  Chile | 4,914,000 | |
| 33 | 4,235,000 | ||
| 34 |  Switzerland | 4,210,000 | |
| 35 |  Denmark (including colonies)[7] [8] | 3,959,200 | |
| 36 |  Finland | 3,700,000 | |
| 37 | 3,698,000 | ||
| 38 | 3,628,000 | ||
| 39 |  Ireland | 2,960,000 | |
| 40 |  Norway | 2,945,000 | |
| 41 | [9] | 2,775,000 | |
| 42 | 2,707,000 | ||
| 43 |  Saudi Arabia | 2,670,000 | |
| 44 | 2,659,000 | ||
| 45 | Slovakia[10] | 2,655,000 | |
| 46 |  Lithuania | 2,575,000 | |
| 47 |  Ecuador | 2,412,000 | |
| 48 |  Guatemala | 2,150,000 | |
| 49 |  Latvia | 1,994,500 | |
| 50 |  Uruguay | 1,953,000 | |
| 51 |  Dominican Republic | 1,634,000 | |
| 52 |  El Salvador | 1,459,600 | |
| 53 |  Estonia | 1,134,000 | |
| 54 |  Honduras | 1,096,950 | |
| 55 |  Albania[11] | 1,073,000 | |
| 56 | 1,000,000 | ||
| 57 |  | 931,800 | |
| 58 | 819,000 | ||
| 59 |  Nicaragua | 806,000 | |
| 60 |  Liberia | 780,000 | |
| 61 |  Costa Rica | 623,400 | |
| 62 |  Panama | 605,000 | |
| 63 | (semi-independent British protectorate) | 470,000 | |
| 64 | [12] [13] | 408,000 | |
| 65 |  Luxembourg | 295,000 | |
| 66 |  Monaco | 24,000 | |
| 67 |  San Marino | 14,500 | |
| 68 |  Liechtenstein | 13,000 | |
| 69 |  Andorra | 6,000 | |
| 70 | 1,000 | 0.000046% | |