List of countries by population in 1900

This is a list of countries by population in 1900. Estimate numbers are from the beginning of the year and exact population figures are for countries that held a census on various dates in the year 1900.

Rank	Country/Territory	Population c. 1900 estimate[1]	Percentage of World Population
—	World	1,700,000,000	-
1	Qing China[1]	400,000,000	23.5%
—	British Empire[lower-alpha 1]	384,000,000	22.5%
2	British Raj[lower-alpha 2][1] (UK)	294,000,000	17.3%
—	Russian Empire (including Finland and Poland)	136,305,900	8.0%
3	Russian Empire (excluding Finland and Poland)	119,546,234	7.0%
—	Russian Empire[1] (Russia proper only)	87,162,000	5.1%
—	France (including colonies)	78,790,700	4.6%
4	United States[lower-alpha 3][1] (US proper only)	75,994,575	4.5%
5	Germany[2]	56,367,178	3.3%
6	Austria-Hungary[1]	47,295,100	2.8%
—	Empire of Japan (including Taiwan)	46,605,000	2.7%
7	Empire of Japan[3] (Japan proper only)	43,847,000	2.6%
8	Dutch East Indies[lower-alpha 4][1] (Netherlands)	42,746,000	2.5%
9	United Kingdom[1]	39,875,900	2.3%
10	France (Metropolitan France only)[1]	38,900,000	2.3%
11	Italy[1]	32,475,000	1.9%
—	Ottoman Empire[lower-alpha 5][lower-alpha 6][1]	31,706,300	1.9%
12	Spain[1]	18,594,000	1.1%
13	Brazil[1]	17,984,000	1.1%
14	Korean Empire[4]	17,082,000	1.0%
15	Mexico[1]	13,607,000	0.8%
—	Portuguese Empire	12,434,000	0.7%
16	Abyssinia[1]	12,180,600[5]	0.7%
—	Egypt[1] (UK)	10,186,000	0.6%
17	Persia[1]	9,860,000	0.6%
—	Northern Nigeria (UK)	8,500,000	0.5%
—	Southern Nigeria (UK)	7,500,000	0.4%
—	Philippine Islands[1] (United States)	7,409,000	0.4%
—	Union between Sweden and Norway[1]	7,354,400	0.4%
18	Morocco[6]	7,000,000	0.4%
19	Belgium[1]	6,693,500	0.4%
20	Siam[1]	6,320,000	0.4%
21	Romania[1]	6,000,000	0.4%
—	Tonkin[1] (France)	6,000,000	0.4%
—	Anglo-Egyptian Sudan[1] (UK/Egypt)	5,588,000	0.3%
22	Portugal[1] (Portugal proper only)	5,450,000	0.3%
—	Canada[1]	5,301,000	0.3%
23	Sweden[1] (Union between Sweden and Norway)	5,136,400	0.3%
24	Netherlands[1]	5,104,100	0.3%
—	Portuguese West Africa[1] (Portugal)	4,790,000	0.3%
—	Algeria[1] (France)	4,675,000	0.3%
—	Annam[1] (France protectorate)	4,620,000	0.3%
25	Afghanistan[1]	4,550,000	0.3%
26	Argentina[1]	4,542,000	0.3%
—	Ireland[1] (UK)	4,470,000	0.3%
—	Arabia[lower-alpha 7]	4,218,000	0.2%
—	Tibet (China)	4,200,000	0.2%
27	Colombia[lower-alpha 8][1]	4,157,000	0.2%
—	Ceylon[1] (UK)	3,912,000	0.2%
—	Australia[1] (UK)	3,765,300	0.2%
28	Bulgaria[1]	3,744,300	0.2%
29	Nepal[1]	3,599,000	0.2%
—	Cameroon (Germany)	3,500,000	0.2%
—	German East Africa (Germany)	3,500,000	0.2%
30	Switzerland[1]	3,315,400	0.2%
31	Chile[1]	3,110,100	0.18%
32	Peru[1]	3,000,000	0.18%
—	Cochin-China[1] (France)	2,968,500	0.17%
—	Taiwan[7] (Japan)	2,758,161	0.16%
—	Ruanda-Urundi (Germany)	2,700,000	0.16%
—	Sudan[1] (France)	2,672,000	0.16%
—	Finland[1] (Russia)	2,655,900	0.16%
33	Serbia[1][lower-alpha 9]	2,579,800	0.15%
34	Greece[8]	2,504,070	0.15%
—	Cape Colony (UK)	2,500,000	0.15%
35	Venezuela[1]	2,445,000	0.14%
36	Denmark[1]	2,430,000	0.14%
—	Madagascar[1] (France)	2,249,500	0.13%
—	Portuguese East Africa[1] (Portugal)	2,239,000	0.13%
—	Upper Volta[1] (France)	2,222,000	0.13%
—	Norway[1] (Union between Sweden and Norway)	2,218,000	0.13%
—	Tunis[1] (France)	1,900,000	0.11%
37	Bolivia[1]	1,766,000	0.10%
—	Uganda[1][lower-alpha 10] (UK)	1,649,900	0.10%
—	Cuba[1] (United States)	1,600,000
—	Gold Coast[1] (UK)	1,486,400
—	Niger[1] (France)	1,459,000
—	French Guinea (France)[lower-alpha 11]	1,459,000
—	Kenya[1] (UK)	1,352,000
—	South African Republic	1,400,000
—	Ivory Coast[1] (France)	1,355,000
38	Ecuador[1]	1,271,900
—	Bukhara (Russia)	1,250,000
—	Senegal[1] (France)	1,200,000
—	Cambodia[1][lower-alpha 12] (France)	1,103,000
—	Sierra Leone[1] (UK)	1,027,000
—	Puerto Rico[1] (United States)	986,000
39	Uruguay[1]	943,000
—	Natal[1][lower-alpha 13] (UK)	925,100
—	Togoland (Germany)	920,000
—	Malaya (UK)	900,000
40	Guatemala[1]	885,000
—	Nyasaland[1] (UK)	717,000
—	Chad[1] (France)	675,000
—	New Zealand[1] (UK)	802,200
41	El Salvador[1]	801,000
—	Northern Rhodesia (UK)	770,000
—	Jamaica[1] (UK)	720,000
—	Southern Rhodesia[1] (UK)	692,000
42	Liberia[1]	641,000
43	Paraguay[1]	635,600
—	Oubangui-Chari (France)	630,000
44	Dominican Republic[1]	600,000
—	Dahomey (France)	570,000
—	Straits Settlements (UK)	550,000
45	Spanish Honduras[1]	543,700
—	Mauretania[1] (France)	502,000
46	Muscat and Oman	500,000
—	Sarawak (UK)	500,000
—	Portuguese India (Portugal)	475,000
—	Laos[1] (France)	473,000
47	Nicaragua[1]	429,300
—	Italian Somaliland (Italy)	400,000
—	Khiva (Russia)	400,000
48	Orange Free State	400,000
—	Territory of Papua (UK, de facto Australia)	400,000
—	Basutoland (UK)	383,000
—	Mauritius (UK)	375,000
49	Costa Rica	341,600
—	Hong Kong (UK)	325,000
50	Montenegro	320,000
—	Trinidad and Tobago (UK)	320,000
—	Crete (Ottoman Empire)	310,000
—	North Borneo (UK)	300,000
—	British Guiana (UK)	300,000
—	British Somaliland (UK)	300,000
—	Portuguese Timor (Portugal)	300,000
—	Bhutan (Indian Empire)	280,000
—	French India (France)	280,000
—	Belgian Congo (France)	280,000
—	Azores (Portugal)	260,000
51	Luxembourg	252,000
—	Zanzibar (UK)	250,000
—	Cyprus (UK)	240,000
—	Gabon (France)	240,000
—	Newfoundland (UK)	230,000
—	Eritrea (Italy)	220,000
—	German South-West Africa (Germany)	210,000
—	Guinea (Portugal)	200,000
—	Malta (UK)	195,000
—	Guadeloupe (France)	190,000
—	German New Guinea (Germany)	188,000
—	Kwang-Chou-Wan (France)	185,000
—	Martinique (France)	185,000
—	Barbados (UK)	182,000
—	Réunion (France)	178,000
—	Gambia (UK)	165,000
—	Madeira (Portugal)	160,000
—	Hawaii (United States)	154,000
—	Spanish Guinea (or Río Muni) (Spain)	150,000
—	Cape Verde (Portugal)	140,000
—	British Solomon Islands (UK)	135,000
—	Fiji (UK)	125,000
—	Comoros (France)	112,000
—	Bechuanaland (UK)	90,000
—	Swaziland (UK)	90,000
—	Surinam (Netherlands)	86,000
—	Iceland (Denmark)	82,000
—	Macau (Portugal)	80,000
—	Bahrain (UK)	70,000
—	Grenada (UK)	70,000
—	Trucial Oman (UK)	70,000
—	Alaska (United States)	63,592
—	São Tomé and Príncipe (Portugal)	61,000
—	Kiaochow (Germany)	60,000
—	Sikkim (Indian Empire)	60,000
—	Isle of Man (UK)	57,000
—	Maldives (UK)	56,000
—	Bahamas (UK)	55,000
—	Jersey (UK)	54,000
—	New Caledonia (France)	54,000
—	French Somaliland (France)	50,000
—	German Solomon Islands (Germany)	50,000
—	New Hebrides (UK and France)	50,000
—	Saint Lucia (UK)	50,000
—	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (UK)	49,000
—	Aden Protectorate (UK)	45,000
—	British Honduras (UK)	45,000
—	Saint Kitts (with Nevis) (UK)	45,000
—	Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands)	44,000
—	Guernsey (UK)	42,000
—	Kuwait (UK)	40,000
—	Rio de Oro (Spain)	40,000
—	German Samoa (Germany)	37,000
—	Caroline Islands (Germany)	36,000
—	Antigua (with Barbuda and Redonda) (UK)	35,000
—	Dominica (UK)	32,000
—	Gilbert Islands (UK)	30,000
—	French Polynesia (France)	30,000
—	Gibraltar (UK)	29,000
—	Danish Virgin Islands (Denmark)	28,000
—	Fernando Po (Spain)	25,000
—	French Guiana (France)	24,000
—	Brunei (UK)	22,000
—	Spanish Morocco[lower-alpha 14] (Spain)	22,000
—	Seychelles (UK)	22,000
—	Tonga (UK)	21,000
—	Bermuda (UK)	20,000
52	Monaco	19,000
—	Faroe Islands (Denmark)	17,000
—	Micronesia (Germany)	15,000
—	Witu (UK)	15,000
—	Marshall Islands (Germany)	15,000
—	Greenland (Denmark)	13,000
—	Guam (United States)	12,000
—	Montserrat (UK)	12,000
—	Qatar (UK)	11,000
53	San Marino	11,000
54	Liechtenstein	10,000
55	Andorra	6,000
—	Cook Islands (UK)	6,000
—	American Samoa (United States)	6,000
—	Wallis and Futuna (France)	6,000
—	Turks and Caicos Islands (UK)	5,500
—	British Virgin Islands (UK)	5,000
—	Cayman Islands (UK)	5,000
—	Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France)	5,000
—	Anguilla (UK)	4,500
—	Saint Helena (UK)	4,500
—	Palau (Germany)	4,000
—	Niue (UK)	4,000
—	Elobey, Annobón and Corisco (Spain)	3,000
—	Neutral Moresnet	3,000
—	Mariana Islands (Germany)	2,500
—	Ellice Islands (UK)	2,400
—	Falkland Islands (UK)	2,300
—	Nauru (Germany)	1,500
—	Christmas Island (UK)	900
—	Cocos Islands (UK)	650
—	Tokelau Islands (UK)	500
—	Pitcairn Islands (UK)	170
—	Ascension Island (UK)	100
—	Tristan da Cunha (UK)	95
—	Phoenix Islands (UK)	69
56	Tavolara (claimed by Italy)	55

Historical Demographics
Altar Domitius Ahenobarbus Louvre
Articles
Demographic history
Historical demography
World population estimates
List of Countries by Population
1800	1900	1907

World map of 1910 showing colonial possessions and commercial highways

Notes

1. please see references for each constituent.
2. unofficially the "Indian Empire". Comprises modern-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and Burma.
3. excludes external territories
4. modern-day Indonesia
5. Highly centralized. Certain subdivisions, such as the Cretan State, were listed separately.
6. does not include the tributary states of Egypt, Bulgaria, East Rumelia, Samos, or Thasos
7. Mostly Tihamah, Hejaz, Nejd, Hadramaut, Yemen
8. including modern-day Panama
9. figures for Serbia are from 1902.
10. figures for Uganda are from 1902
11. figures are for 1901.
12. figures for Cambodia are from 1901.
13. figures are from 1901.
14. mainly Ceuta and Melilla.

References

1. "Population statistics: historical demography". Various sources (below). Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
2. Statistik des Deutschen Reichs. Band 150: Die Volkszählung am 1. Dezember 1900 im Deutschen Reich. Berlin, 1903, according to Deutsche Verwaltungsgeschichte 1871 - 1990 © 2006 by Dr. Michael Rademacher M.A., http://www.verwaltungsgeschichte.de/fremdsprachen.html
3. Estimated population as of Jan, 1. 1900. Meiji go-nen ikō wagakoku no jinkō (1930). .
4. 권태환 신용하 (1977). 조선왕조시대 인구추정에 관한 일시론 (in Korean).
5. Epstein, M. (2016-12-24). The Statesman's Year-Book: Statistical and Historical Annual of the States of the World for the Year 1933. Springer. ISBN 978-0-230-27062-6.
6. Martin, Frederick; Keltie, Sir John Scott; Renwick, Isaac Parker Anderson; Epstein, Mortimer; Steinberg, Sigfrid Henry; Paxton, John; (Librarian), Brian Hunter (1905). "The Statesman's Year-book".
7. Population as of December 31, 1899, based on koseki registration system. The first census population of Taiwan was 3,039,751 on October 1, 1905. Taiwan genjū jinkō tōkei-hyō (1925).
8. Michalopoulos, Ioannis G., ed. (May 1931), Στατιστικὴ Ἑπετηρὶς τῆς Ἑλλάδος–1930 [Statistical Yearbook of Greece–1930] (PDF) (in Greek and French), Athens: Hellenic Statistical Authority, p. 23, archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016

• Kurt Witthauer. Bevölkerung der Erde (1958)
• Calendario atlante de Agostini, anno 99 (2003)
• The Columbia gazetteer of the world (1998)
• Britannica book of the year : world data (1997)