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Historical Demographics
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Demographic history
Historical demography
World population estimates
List of Countries by Population
1800	1900	1939

This is a list of countries by population in 1900, with colonial possessions being counted towards the ruling country's total (such as Poland counting towards Russia and Cuba counting as part of the United States).

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.

Map

List

Rank	Country/Territory	Population c. 1900 estimate	Percentage of World Population
—	World	1,700,100,000	100%
1	British Empire constituents   British Asia – 301,041,000 constituents India – 241,000,000 Bangladesh – 30,000,000 Pakistan – 23,000,000 Burma – 8,000,000 Ceylon – 3,912,000  Malaya – 900,000  Straits Settlements – 550,000  Sarawak – 500,000  British Hong Kong – 325,000  North Borneo – 300,000  Cyprus – 240,000 Bahrain – 70,000  Trucial Oman – 70,000 Maldives – 57000  Aden Protectorate – 45,000 Sheikhdom of Kuwait – 40,000 Brunei – 22,000  Qatar – 11,000   British Africa – 44,587,195 constituents  Egypt – 10,000,000 Northern Nigeria – 8,500,000 Southern Nigeria – 7,500,000 Anglo-Egyptian Sudan – 5,588,000 Cape Colony – 2,500,000  Uganda – 1,649,000  Gold Coast – 1,486,400  Kenya – 1,352,000 Sierra Leone (including protectorate) – 1,027,000 Colony of Natal – 925,100  Northern Rhodesia – 770,000 Nyasaland – 717,000  Southern Rhodesia – 692,000  Basutoland – 383,000 Mauritius– 375,000 Somaliland – 300,000 Zanzibar (UK and Oman) – 250,000 Gambia – 165,000 Bechuanaland – 90,000 Swaziland – 90,000 Seychelles – 22,000 Witu Sultanate – 15,000  Saint Helena – 4,500  Ascension Island – 100  Tristan da Cunha – 95  United Kingdom – 44,498,900  Canada – 5,301,000  Australia – 3,765,700 constituents  Territory of Papua – 400,000   British West Indies – 1,685,000 constituents  Jamaica – 720,000 Trinidad and Tobago – 320,000 Barbados – 182,000 Grenada – 70,000 Bahamas – 55,000 Saint Lucia – 50,000 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – 49,000  British Honduras – 45,000 Saint Kitts and Nevis – 45,000 Antigua and Barbuda – 35,000 Dominica – 32,000 Bermuda – 20,000  Montserrat – 12,000  Turks and Caicos Islands – 5,500 British Virgin Islands – 5,000 Cayman Islands – 5,000  Anguilla – 4,500  New Zealand – 802,200  British Guiana – 300,000 Newfoundland – 230,000   Western Pacific Territories – 375,689 constituents  Solomon Islands – 135,000 Fiji – 125,000 New Hebrides – 50,000 Gilbert Islands – 30,000  Tonga – 21,000  Cook Islands – 6,000  Niue – 4,000 Ellice Islands – 2,400  Christmas Island – 900  Cocos Islands – 650  Tokelau Islands – 500  Pitcairn Islands – 170  Phoenix Islands – 69  Malta – 195,000  Gibraltar – 29,000  Falkland Islands – 2,300	~400,800,000	23.51%
2	Qing China constituents  Qing China – ~395,800,000  Tibet – 4,200,000	400,000,000	23.5%
3	Russian Empire constituents  Russia proper – 73,000,000 Poland – 14,103,766 Grand Duchy of Finland – 2,655,900  Emirate of Bukhara - 1,250,000  Khanate of Khiva - 400,000	136,305,900	8.0%
4	United States constituents  Contiguous United States – 75,994,575 Cuba – 1,600,000 Puerto Rico – 986,000 Hawaii – 154,000 Alaska – 63,592 Guam – 12,000 American Samoa – 6,000	78,816,167	4.6%
5	French Empire constituents French Third Republic – 38,900,000  French Indochina – 15,164,500 constituents Tonkin – 6,000,000 Annam – 4,620,000  French Cochinchina – 2,968,500  Cambodia – 1,103,000 Protectorate of Laos – 473,000  French West Africa – 11,439,000 constituents  French Sudan – 2,672,000  Upper Volta – 2,222,000  Colony of Niger – 1,459,000  French Guinea – 1,459,000  Ivory Coast – 1,355,000  Senegal – 1,200,000  Colony of Dahomey and Dependencies – 570,000  Colony of Mauritania – 502,000  French North Africa – 5,575,000 constituents  French Algeria – 4,675,000  French protectorate of Tunisia – 1,900,000  Colony of Madagascar and Dependencies – 2,539,500 constituents  French Madagascar – 2,249,500  Réunion – 178,000  Comoros – 112,000  French Equatorial Africa – 1,825,000 constituents  Territory of Chad – 675,000  Colony of Ubangi-Shari – 630,000  French Congo – 280,000  Gabon – 240,000  French India – 280,000  French West Indies – 375,000 constituents  Guadeloupe – 190,000  Martinique – 185,000  Leased Territory of Guangzhouwan – 185,000  New Caledonia – 54,000  French Somaliland – 50,000 New Hebrides – 50,000  French Polynesia – 30,000  French Guiana – 24,000  Wallis and Futuna – 6,000  Saint Pierre and Miquelon – 5,000	78,790,700	4.6%
6	German Empire constituents  Germany – 56,367,178 Kamerun – 3,500,000 German East Africa – 3,500,000  Ruanda-Urundi – 2,700,000  Togoland – 920,000  German South West Africa – 210,000  German New Guinea – 188,000  Kiaochow – 60,000  German Solomon Islands – 50,000  German Samoa – 37,000  Caroline Islands – 36,000  Micronesia – 15,000  Marshall Islands – 15,000  Palau – 4,000 Neutral Moresnet – 3,000  Mariana Islands – 2,500  Nauru – 1,500	67,609,178	4.0%
7	Austria-Hungary constituents  Hungary – 6,800,000  Austria – 6,000,000  Bohemia – 6,000,000  Galicia – 5,300,000  Moravia – 3,000,000  Slovakia – 2,700,000  Croatia-Slavonia – 2,100,000  Transylvania – 2,100,000  Bosnia – 1,600,000  Dalmatia – 1,300,000  Carniola – 1,200,000  Südtirol – 500,000	48,300,000	2.8%
8	Dutch Empire constituents  Dutch East Indies – 42,746,000  Netherlands – 5,104,100  Surinam – 86,000  Netherlands Antilles – 44,000	47,980,100	2.8%
9	Empire of Japan constituents  Japan – 43,847,000 Taiwan - 2,758,161	46,605,000	2.7%
10	Kingdom of Italy constituents  Kingdom of Italy – 32,475,000  Italian Somaliland - 400,000  Eritrea - 220,000	33,095,000	1.9%
11	Ottoman Empire constituents  Turkey – 14,000,000  Yemen – 2,500,000  Kosovo – 1,600,000  Aleppo – 1,500,000  Salonica – 1,300,000  Manastir – 1,000,000  Damascus – 1,000,000  Eastern Rumelia – 900,000  Baghdad – 800,000  Hiyaz – 600,000  Beirut – 530,000  Tripoli – 500,000  Scutari – 350,000 Cretan State – 310,000  Mosul – 300,000  Basora – 200,000  Zor – 100,000	31,706,300	1.9%
12	Sokoto Caliphate	10-20,000,000	0.6-1.1%
13	Spanish Empire constituents  Spain – 18,594,000  Spanish Guinea – 150,000  Rio de Oro – 40,000  Fernando Po – 25,000  Spanish Morocco – 22,000  Elobey, Annobón, and Corsico – 3,000	18,834,000	1.1%
14	Brazil	17,984,000	1.1%
16	Korean Empire	17,082,000	1.0%
17	Belgian colonial empire constituents  Congo Free State – 8,730,000  Belgium – 6,693,500 Neutral Moresnet – 3,000	15,426,500	0.9%
18	Mexico	13,607,000	0.8%
19	Portuguese Empire constituents  Portugal – 5,450,000  Portuguese West Africa – 4,790,000  Portuguese East Africa – 2,239,000  Portuguese India – 475,000  Portuguese Timor – 300,000  Azores – 260,000  Guinea – 200,000  Madeira – 160,000  Cape Verde – 140,000  Macau – 80,000  São Tomé and Príncipe – 61,000	12,434,000	0.7%
20	Ethiopian Empire	12,180,600	0.7%
21	Qajar Iran	9,860,000	0.6%
22	Philippines	7,409,000	0.4%
23	Union between Sweden and Norway constituents  Sweden – 5,136,400  Norway – 2,218,000	7,354,400	0.4%
24	Morocco	7,000,000	0.4%
25	Siam	6,320,000	0.4%
26	Romania	6,000,000	0.4%
27	Afghanistan	4,550,000	0.3%
28	Argentina	4,542,000	0.3%
29	Jabal Shammar	~4,218,000	~0.2%
30	Colombia	4,157,000	0.2%
31	Bulgaria	3,744,300	0.2%
32	Nepal	3,599,000	0.2%
33	Switzerland	3,315,400	0.2%
34	Chile	3,110,100	0.18%
35	Peru	3,000,000	0.18%
36	Serbia	2,579,800	0.15%
37	Danish Empire constituents  Denmark – 2,430,000 Iceland – 82,000  Danish Virgin Islands – 28,000  Faroe Islands – 17,000  Greenland – 13,000	2,569,000	0.15%
39	Venezuela	2,445,000	0.14%
40	Bolivia	1,766,000	0.1%
41	South African Republic	1,400,000
42	Ecuador	1,271,900
43	Uruguay	943,000
44	Guatemala	885,000
45	El Salvador	801,000
46	Liberia	641,000
47	Paraguay	635,600
48	Dominican Republic	600,000
49	Honduras	543,700
50	Muscat and Oman	500,000
51	Nicaragua	429,300
52	Orange Free State	400,000
53	Costa Rica	341,600
54	Montenegro	320,000
55	Bhutan	280,000
56	Luxembourg	252,000
57	Monaco	19,000
58	San Marino	11,000
59	Liechtenstein	10,000
60	Andorra	6,000

Notes

1. The Ottoman empire was highly centralized, so certain subdivisions (such as the Cretan State) are listed separately. This total also doesn't include the tributary states of Egypt, Bulgaria, East Rumelia, Samos, or Thasos
2. 1837 estimate
3. Includes all of modern-day Saudi Arabia
4. Includes modern-day Panama
5. Nominally independent British protectorate
6. 1902 figure
7. Nominally independent British protectorate

References

1. "Population of Egypt". The World Counts. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
2. "Population of Egypt from 1800 until 2020". Statista. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
3. 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.
4. Estimated population as of Jan, 1. 1900. Meiji go-nen ikō wagakoku no jinkō (1930). .
5. Falola, Toyin (2009). Historical Dictionary of Nigeria. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press.
6. "Usman dan Fodio: Sokoto Caliphate founder – DW – 02/24/2020". dw.com.
7. 권태환 신용하 (1977). 조선왕조시대 인구추정에 관한 일시론 (in Korean).
8. 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.
9. 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".

• Calendario atlante de Agostini, anno 99 [Agostini atlas calendar, year 99] (in Italian). 2003.
• The Columbia gazetteer of the world. 1998.
• Britannica book of the year: World Data. 1997.
• Witthauer, Kurt (1958). Bevölkerung der Erde [Population of the earth] (in German).

• 1900-related lists
• Lists of countries by population by year