List of countries by population in 1939

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

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List of Countries by Population
1907	1939	1989

Map of the world in 1935

Population distribution by country in 1939

This is a list of countries by population in 1939, 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).

Country/Territory	Population c. 1939	Percentage of World Population
World	2,300,000,000	–
British Empire subdivisions India – 377,800,000 British Africa – 73,903,225 constituents Nigeria – 19,753,000 South Africa — 10,160,000 Anglo-Egyptian Sudan – 6,342,500 Tanganyika – 5,372,812 Kenya – 4,500,000 Uganda – 3,747,200 Gold Coast – 3,700,300 Sierra Leone – 1,974,700 Nyasaland – 1,680,000 Southern Rhodesia – 1,400,000 Northern Rhodesia – 1,390,000 24px British Cameroons – 1,024,425 Basutoland – 622,000 Mauritius – 422,000 24px British Somaliland – 350,000 Bechuanaland Protectorate – 275,000 Gambia – 205,000 Swaziland – 158,000 Zanzibar – 150,088 Seychelles – 31,500 United Kingdom – 47,500,000 Burma – 16,119,000 Canada – 10,952,100 Australia – 6,968,000 Malaya – 5,386,300 constituents Federated Malay States — 2,145,000 Unfederated Malay States — 1,871,000 24px Straits Settlements — 1,370,300 British West Indies – 3,702,600 constituents Jamaica – 1,178,600 British Honduras – 1,076,000 Trinidad and Tobago – 476,000 British Guiana – 339,000 Windward Islands – 216,100 constituents Grenada – 89,000 Saint Lucia – 69,100 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – 58,000 Barbados – 177,000 Leeward Islands – 142,400 constituents Dominica – 50,600 Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla – 37,600 Antigua and Barbuda – 34,100 Montserrat – 13,700 British Virgin Islands – 6,400 The Bahamas – 67,000 Bermuda – 30,500 New Zealand – 1,668,800 Mandatory Palestine - 1,466,500 Papua and New Guinea – 1,292,000 Hong Kong — 1,282,000 Aden – 994,000 Jordan — 991,000 Bhutan – 470,000 Sarawak — 460,000 British Western Pacific Territories – 425,820 constituents Fiji — 210,500 24px Solomon Islands — 95,000 New Hebrides — 43,000 Tonga — 35,000 Gilbert and Ellice Islands — 33,400 Niue — 4,000 Nauru – 3,400 Tokelau — 1,300 Pitcairn Islands – 220 Cyprus — 393,000 Muscat and Oman — 386,000 Newfoundland – 314,900 North Borneo — 300,000 Malta – 269,000 Trucial States — 110,000 Maldives — 87,000 Kuwait — 50,000 Brunei – 38,000 24px Gibraltar – 19,000 Saint Helena – 4,700 Falkland Islands – 2,400	551,159,825	24.0%
Empire of Japan subdivisions Occupied Mainland China – 200,000,000 including Reformed Government of the Republic of China Provisional Government of the Republic of China Mengjiang Japan – 71,900,000 Manchukuo – 50,000,000 Korea – 24,326,000 Formosa – 6,586,000 South Pacific Mandate – 127,000	304,119,000	13.2%
Republic of China	267,568,000	11.6%
Soviet Union	170,600,000	7.4%
United States subdivisions United States – 131,028,000 Philippines – 16,000,000 Guam – 22,800	147,500,800	6.4%
French Empire subdivisions France – 42,000,000 French Indochina – 24,664,000 French North Africa – 16,920,000 constituents French Algeria – 7,517,000 French Morocco – 6,622,200 French Tunisia – 2,781,000 French Equatorial Africa – 14,131,900 constituents French Congo – 11,898,700 French Chad – 2,021,000 French West Africa – 13,393,200 constituents French Sudan – 3,635,100 French Upper Volta – 3,308,000 French Guinea – 2,065,500 Colony of Niger – 1,809,600 French Dahomey – 1,532,000 French Togoland – 1,043,000 Syria – 2,516,000 French Cameroons – 2,381,272 Lebanon – 1,168,000 French Comoros – 137,000 French Polynesia – 51,200 French Guiana – 24,000	114,386,572	5.0%
Germany subdivisions Germany – 69,300,000 Second Czechoslovak Republic and Sudetenland – 11,223,000 Austria – 6,800,000	87,323,000	3.8%
Netherlands subdivisions Dutch East Indies – 69,435,000 Netherlands – 8,729,000 Dutch Guyana - 173,100 Aruba - 29,200 Curaçao and Dependencies - ? Sint Maarten - ?	78,366,300	3.4%
Italian Empire subdivisions Italy – 43,400,000 24px Italian East Africa – 12,100,000 Italian Libya – 893,774 Italian Islands of the Aegean – 132,489 Italian concession of Tientsin – 6,261	56,532,624	2.5%
Brazil	40,289,000	1.8%
Poland	34,849,000	1.5%
Spanish Empire subdivisions Spain – 25,637,000 Spanish Morocco – 735,800 Spanish Sahara– 450,000	26,822,800	1.2%
Belgian Empire subdivisions Belgian Congo – 10,304,100 Belgium – 8,387,000 Ruanda-Urundi – 3,800,000	22,491,000	1.0%
Mexico	19,320,000	0.8%
Portuguese Empire subdivisions Portugal – 7,627,000 Mozambique - 5,086,500 Angola - 3,740,800 Portuguese India - 624,100 constituents Goa - 583,700 Dadra and Nagar Haveli - 40,400 Portuguese Timor - 480,000 Portuguese Guinea - 420,000 Macau - 374,700 Cape Verde - 181,300 São Tomé and Príncipe - 61,000	18,595,400	0.8%
Turkey	17,370,000	0.8%
Egypt	16,492,000	0.7%
Romania	15,970,000	0.7%
Yugoslavia	15,490,000	0.7%
Siam	15,023,000	0.7%
Iran	14,340,000	0.6%
Argentina	13,948,000	0.6%
Hungary	9,129,000	0.4%
Colombia	8,896,000	0.4%
Afghanistan	7,400,000	0.3%
Greece	7,222,000	0.3%
Peru	6,572,000	0.3%
Bulgaria	6,458,000	0.3%
Sweden	6,341,000	0.3%
Nepal	6,087,000	0.3%
Chile	4,914,000	0.2%
Template:Country data Republic of Cuba (1902–59)	4,235,000	0.18%
Switzerland	4,210,000	0.18%
Kingdom of Denmark subdivisions Denmark – 3,795,000 Iceland – 118,900 Faroe Islands – 26,900 Greenland – 18,400	3,839,400	0.17%
Tibet	3,722,000	0.16%
Finland	3,700,000	0.16%
Iraq	3,698,000	0.16%
Morocco	3,628,000	0.16%
Slovak Republic	3,577,000	0.16%
Ireland	2,960,000	0.13%
Norway	2,945,000	0.13%
Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen	2,775,000	0.12%
Haiti	2,707,000	0.12%
Saudi Arabia	2,670,000	0.12%
Bolivia	2,659,000	0.12%
Lithuania	2,575,000	0.11%
Ecuador	2,412,000	0.10%
Guatemala	2,150,000	0.093%
Latvia	1,994,500	0.087%
Uruguay	1,953,000	0.085%
Dominican Republic	1,634,000	0.071%
El Salvador	1,459,600	0.063%
Estonia	1,134,000	0.049%
Albania	1,073,000	0.047%
Honduras	1,096,950	0.048%
Mongolian People's Republic	819,000	0.036%
Nicaragua	806,000	0.035%
Liberia	780,000	0.034%
Costa Rica	623,400	0.027%
Panama	605,000	0.026%
Danzig	408,000	0.018%
Luxembourg	295,000	0.013%
Monaco	24,000	0.0010%
San Marino	14,500	0.00063%
Liechtenstein	13,000	0.00057%
Andorra	6,000	0.00026%
Vatican City	1,000	4×10^−5%

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

See also

• List of countries by population
• List of countries by population in 1907
• List of countries by population in 1989
• List of countries by population in 2000
• List of countries by population in 2005
• List of territories occupied by Imperial Britain
• List of territories occupied by Imperial Japan