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The United Nations (UN) comprises 193 member countries, ranging from global population giants like China and India to small island nations such as Tuvalu and Nauru. Understanding how these countries compare by population reveals much about global demographics, influence, and development.
In this post, we present an updated list of all 193 UN member states ranked by population (2025 estimates). This ranking helps highlight how densely populated nations shape international discourse and global policy, while also recognizing the presence of smaller states with unique cultures and identities.
Rank | Country | Estimated Population (2025) |
---|---|---|
1 | India ๐ฎ๐ณ | ~1.43 billion |
2 | China ๐จ๐ณ | ~1.41 billion |
3 | United States ๐บ๐ธ | ~339 million |
4 | Indonesia ๐ฎ๐ฉ | ~280 million |
5 | Pakistan ๐ต๐ฐ | ~242 million |
6 | Nigeria ๐ณ๐ฌ | ~230 million |
7 | Brazil ๐ง๐ท | ~216 million |
8 | Bangladesh ๐ง๐ฉ | ~172 million |
9 | Russia ๐ท๐บ | ~143 million |
10 | Mexico ๐ฒ๐ฝ | ~130 million |
11 | Ethiopia ๐ช๐น | ~127 million |
12 | Japan ๐ฏ๐ต | ~122 million |
13 | Philippines ๐ต๐ญ | ~118 million |
14 | Egypt ๐ช๐ฌ | ~111 million |
15 | Democratic Republic of the Congo ๐จ๐ฉ | ~104 million |
16 | Vietnam ๐ป๐ณ | ~99 million |
17 | Iran ๐ฎ๐ท | ~89 million |
18 | Turkey ๐น๐ท | ~86 million |
19 | Germany ๐ฉ๐ช | ~83 million |
20 | Thailand ๐น๐ญ | ~71 million |
21 | France ๐ซ๐ท | ~68 million |
22 | United Kingdom ๐ฌ๐ง | ~67 million |
23 | Tanzania ๐น๐ฟ | ~67 million |
24 | South Africa ๐ฟ๐ฆ | ~61 million |
25 | Italy ๐ฎ๐น | ~59 million |
26 | Myanmar ๐ฒ๐ฒ | ~56 million |
27 | South Korea ๐ฐ๐ท | ~51 million |
28 | Colombia ๐จ๐ด | ~52 million |
29 | Kenya ๐ฐ๐ช | ~54 million |
30 | Spain ๐ช๐ธ | ~48 million |
31 | Ukraine ๐บ๐ฆ | ~37 million |
32 | Argentina ๐ฆ๐ท | ~47 million |
33 | Sudan ๐ธ๐ฉ | ~46 million |
34 | Uganda ๐บ๐ฌ | ~48 million |
35 | Algeria ๐ฉ๐ฟ | ~46 million |
36 | Iraq ๐ฎ๐ถ | ~45 million |
37 | Poland ๐ต๐ฑ | ~37 million |
38 | Afghanistan ๐ฆ๐ซ | ~41 million |
39 | Canada ๐จ๐ฆ | ~40 million |
40 | Morocco ๐ฒ๐ฆ | ~37 million |
41 | Saudi Arabia ๐ธ๐ฆ | ~36 million |
42 | Uzbekistan ๐บ๐ฟ | ~36 million |
43 | Peru ๐ต๐ช | ~35 million |
44 | Angola ๐ฆ๐ด | ~36 million |
45 | Malaysia ๐ฒ๐พ | ~34 million |
46 | Ghana ๐ฌ๐ญ | ~34 million |
47 | Yemen ๐พ๐ช | ~34 million |
48 | Mozambique ๐ฒ๐ฟ | ~34 million |
49 | Nepal ๐ณ๐ต | ~31 million |
50 | Venezuela ๐ป๐ช | ~29 million |
51 | Madagascar ๐ฒ๐ฌ | ~30 million |
52 | Cameroon ๐จ๐ฒ | ~30 million |
53 | Cรดte d'Ivoire ๐จ๐ฎ | ~29 million |
54 | North Korea ๐ฐ๐ต | ~26 million |
55 | Australia ๐ฆ๐บ | ~27 million |
56 | Niger ๐ณ๐ช | ~27 million |
57 | Sri Lanka ๐ฑ๐ฐ | ~21 million |
58 | Burkina Faso ๐ง๐ซ | ~24 million |
59 | Mali ๐ฒ๐ฑ | ~23 million |
60 | Romania ๐ท๐ด | ~19 million |
61 | Malawi ๐ฒ๐ผ | ~21 million |
62 | Chile ๐จ๐ฑ | ~19 million |
63 | Kazakhstan ๐ฐ๐ฟ | ~19 million |
64 | Zambia ๐ฟ๐ฒ | ~20 million |
65 | Guatemala ๐ฌ๐น | ~19 million |
66 | Ecuador ๐ช๐จ | ~18 million |
67 | Netherlands ๐ณ๐ฑ | ~17.8 million |
68 | Syria ๐ธ๐พ | ~18 million |
69 | Cambodia ๐ฐ๐ญ | ~17 million |
70 | Senegal ๐ธ๐ณ | ~18 million |
71 | Chad ๐น๐ฉ | ~18 million |
72 | Somalia ๐ธ๐ด | ~18 million |
73 | Zimbabwe ๐ฟ๐ผ | ~17 million |
74 | Guinea ๐ฌ๐ณ | ~14 million |
75 | South Sudan ๐ธ๐ธ | ~13 million |
76 | Rwanda ๐ท๐ผ | ~14 million |
77 | Benin ๐ง๐ฏ | ~13 million |
78 | Burundi ๐ง๐ฎ | ~13 million |
79 | Tunisia ๐น๐ณ | ~12.5 million |
80 | Bolivia ๐ง๐ด | ~12 million |
81 | Belgium ๐ง๐ช | ~11.8 million |
82 | Haiti ๐ญ๐น | ~11.7 million |
83 | Cuba ๐จ๐บ | ~11 million |
84 | South Sudan ๐ธ๐ธ | ~11 million |
85 | Greece ๐ฌ๐ท | ~10.4 million |
86 | Dominican Republic ๐ฉ๐ด | ~11 million |
87 | Czech Republic ๐จ๐ฟ | ~10.7 million |
88 | Portugal ๐ต๐น | ~10.2 million |
89 | Jordan ๐ฏ๐ด | ~11 million |
90 | Azerbaijan ๐ฆ๐ฟ | ~10.5 million |
91 | Sweden ๐ธ๐ช | ~10.6 million |
92 | Honduras ๐ญ๐ณ | ~10.7 million |
93 | United Arab Emirates ๐ฆ๐ช | ~10 million |
94 | Hungary ๐ญ๐บ | ~9.5 million |
95 | Tajikistan ๐น๐ฏ | ~10 million |
96 | Belarus ๐ง๐พ | ~9.2 million |
97 | Austria ๐ฆ๐น | ~9 million |
98 | Papua New Guinea ๐ต๐ฌ | ~9.8 million |
99 | Switzerland ๐จ๐ญ | ~8.9 million |
100 | Togo ๐น๐ฌ | ~9 million |
101 | Sierra Leone ๐ธ๐ฑ | ~8.9 million |
102 | Israel ๐ฎ๐ฑ | ~9.7 million |
103 | Laos ๐ฑ๐ฆ | ~7.7 million |
104 | Paraguay ๐ต๐พ | ~7.6 million |
105 | Bulgaria ๐ง๐ฌ | ~6.4 million |
106 | Serbia ๐ท๐ธ | ~6.6 million |
107 | Libya ๐ฑ๐พ | ~6.8 million |
108 | El Salvador ๐ธ๐ป | ~6.5 million |
109 | Nicaragua ๐ณ๐ฎ | ~6.9 million |
110 | Kyrgyzstan ๐ฐ๐ฌ | ~7.1 million |
111 | Lebanon ๐ฑ๐ง | ~5.6 million |
112 | Turkmenistan ๐น๐ฒ | ~6.5 million |
113 | Singapore ๐ธ๐ฌ | ~5.9 million |
114 | Denmark ๐ฉ๐ฐ | ~5.9 million |
115 | Finland ๐ซ๐ฎ | ~5.6 million |
116 | Slovakia ๐ธ๐ฐ | ~5.4 million |
117 | Norway ๐ณ๐ด | ~5.6 million |
118 | Costa Rica ๐จ๐ท | ~5.2 million |
119 | New Zealand ๐ณ๐ฟ | ~5.2 million |
120 | Palestine ๐ต๐ธ (Observer only) | ~5.3 million |
121 | Central African Republic ๐จ๐ซ | ~5.2 million |
122 | Ireland ๐ฎ๐ช | ~5.1 million |
123 | Oman ๐ด๐ฒ | ~4.7 million |
124 | Liberia ๐ฑ๐ท | ~5.5 million |
125 | New Zealand ๐ณ๐ฟ | ~5.2 million |
126 | Mauritania ๐ฒ๐ท | ~4.9 million |
127 | Kuwait ๐ฐ๐ผ | ~4.5 million |
128 | Panama ๐ต๐ฆ | ~4.6 million |
129 | Croatia ๐ญ๐ท | ~3.8 million |
130 | Georgia ๐ฌ๐ช | ~3.7 million |
131 | Eritrea ๐ช๐ท | ~3.8 million |
132 | Uruguay ๐บ๐พ | ~3.5 million |
133 | Bosnia and Herzegovina ๐ง๐ฆ | ~3.2 million |
134 | Mongolia ๐ฒ๐ณ | ~3.5 million |
135 | Armenia ๐ฆ๐ฒ | ~2.7 million |
136 | Albania ๐ฆ๐ฑ | ~2.7 million |
137 | Jamaica ๐ฏ๐ฒ | ~2.8 million |
138 | Qatar ๐ถ๐ฆ | ~2.9 million |
139 | Namibia ๐ณ๐ฆ | ~2.7 million |
140 | Lesotho ๐ฑ๐ธ | ~2.3 million |
141 | Gambia ๐ฌ๐ฒ | ~2.7 million |
142 | Slovenia ๐ธ๐ฎ | ~2.1 million |
143 | North Macedonia ๐ฒ๐ฐ | ~2.1 million |
144 | Gabon ๐ฌ๐ฆ | ~2.5 million |
145 | Latvia ๐ฑ๐ป | ~1.8 million |
146 | Bahrain ๐ง๐ญ | ~1.7 million |
147 | Trinidad and Tobago ๐น๐น | ~1.5 million |
148 | Estonia ๐ช๐ช | ~1.3 million |
149 | Timor-Leste ๐น๐ฑ | ~1.4 million |
150 | Mauritius ๐ฒ๐บ | ~1.3 million |
151 | Cyprus ๐จ๐พ | ~1.3 million |
152 | Eswatini ๐ธ๐ฟ | ~1.2 million |
153 | Djibouti ๐ฉ๐ฏ | ~1.2 million |
154 | Fiji ๐ซ๐ฏ | ~950,000 |
155 | Comoros ๐ฐ๐ฒ | ~920,000 |
156 | Bhutan ๐ง๐น | ~770,000 |
157 | Guyana ๐ฌ๐พ | ~800,000 |
158 | Solomon Islands ๐ธ๐ง | ~740,000 |
159 | Montenegro ๐ฒ๐ช | ~620,000 |
160 | Luxembourg ๐ฑ๐บ | ~680,000 |
161 | Suriname ๐ธ๐ท | ~630,000 |
162 | Cape Verde (Cabo Verde) ๐จ๐ป | ~590,000 |
163 | Maldives ๐ฒ๐ป | ~560,000 |
164 | Malta ๐ฒ๐น | ~520,000 |
165 | Brunei ๐ง๐ณ | ~450,000 |
166 | Bahamas ๐ง๐ธ | ~420,000 |
167 | Belize ๐ง๐ฟ | ~430,000 |
168 | Iceland ๐ฎ๐ธ | ~390,000 |
169 | Barbados ๐ง๐ง | ~280,000 |
170 | Vanuatu ๐ป๐บ | ~340,000 |
171 | Sรฃo Tomรฉ and Prรญncipe ๐ธ๐น | ~230,000 |
172 | Samoa ๐ผ๐ธ | ~220,000 |
173 | Saint Lucia ๐ฑ๐จ | ~180,000 |
174 | Kiribati ๐ฐ๐ฎ | ~130,000 |
175 | Grenada ๐ฌ๐ฉ | ~120,000 |
176 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ๐ป๐จ | ~110,000 |
177 | Tonga ๐น๐ด | ~105,000 |
178 | Seychelles ๐ธ๐จ | ~100,000 |
179 | Antigua and Barbuda ๐ฆ๐ฌ | ~99,000 |
180 | Andorra ๐ฆ๐ฉ | ~80,000 |
181 | Dominica ๐ฉ๐ฒ | ~75,000 |
182 | Marshall Islands ๐ฒ๐ญ | ~60,000 |
183 | Saint Kitts and Nevis ๐ฐ๐ณ | ~55,000 |
184 | Monaco ๐ฒ๐จ | ~39,000 |
185 | Liechtenstein ๐ฑ๐ฎ | ~39,000 |
186 | San Marino ๐ธ๐ฒ | ~34,000 |
187 | Palau ๐ต๐ผ | ~18,000 |
188 | Tuvalu ๐น๐ป | ~11,000 |
189 | Nauru ๐ณ๐ท | ~10,000 |
190 | Holy See (Vatican City) ๐ป๐ฆ | ~800 |
191 | Micronesia ๐ซ๐ฒ | ~110,000 |
192 | Equatorial Guinea ๐ฌ๐ถ | ~1.6 million |
193 | Comoros ๐ฐ๐ฒ | ~870,000 |
China and India Dominate the Chart
These two Asian giants hold over a third of the worldโs population, each surpassing 1 billion people, significantly shaping global economics and geopolitics.
The United States Holds Third Place
As the most populous Western nation, the U.S. remains a global superpower with over 340 million people and enormous cultural and economic influence.
Nigeria is Africaโs Population Powerhouse
With over 220 million people, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and projected to be the worldโs third-largest by 2050.
Small Nations with Global Clout
Despite their tiny populations, countries like Monaco, Liechtenstein, and Iceland maintain strong global reputations in finance, sustainability, and human development.
Fastest-Growing Populations
Countries like Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania are among the fastest-growing, indicating future shifts in global population centers.
Aging vs. Youthful Societies
Nations like Japan, Italy, and Germany face aging populations, while countries like Uganda, Niger, and Mali have some of the youngest demographics.
Island Nations with Tiny Populations
Countries like Tuvalu, Nauru, and Palau have populations below 20,000, making them some of the smallest UN members by population.
Population and GDP Arenโt Always Aligned
Highly populous nations donโt always equate to high GDP. For instance, Bangladeshhas a large population but is still considered a developing country.
Urban Giants
Mega-cities in populous nationsโsuch as Tokyo, Delhi, Sรฃo Paulo, and Lagosโare themselves larger than many countries and play central roles in regional economies.
UN Representation is Equal, Not Proportional
Despite wide population disparities, each member state gets one vote in the UN General Assembly, ensuring equal representation regardless of size.
Population size plays a pivotal role in shaping a countryโs influence and capacity in the global arena. From economics to diplomacy, population metrics can significantly determine a nationโs priorities, challenges, and opportunities. Here's why population matters so much in global affairs:
1. Economic Power and Market Size
Countries with large populations often possess vast domestic markets, which can attract foreign investments and fuel economic growth. For example, nations like China and India leverage their population size to become major hubs for manufacturing, services, and consumption. A larger population can mean a bigger workforce and more consumersโkey ingredients for economic dynamism.
2. Political Influence and Voting Power
In international organizations like the United Nations, while every member gets one vote in the General Assembly, population size can influence decisions in other settingsโsuch as economic forums, regional blocs, or trade agreements. Population also impacts how much representation a country has in bodies like the World Bank or IMF, where voting power can be tied to contributions and economic scale.
3. Military and Strategic Capabilities
A larger population can translate to a larger pool of potential recruits for national defense. It can also support broader scientific, technological, and industrial bases, which are critical for sustaining defense infrastructure. Countries like the U.S., China, and Russia are examples where population intersects with military capability.
4. Environmental and Sustainability Concerns
High-population countries often face more complex challenges in terms of environmental sustainability, resource distribution, and climate impact. Nations like Indonesia and Brazil must balance population growth with conservation efforts, urban planning, and food security.
5. Demographic Influence on Policy
Population structure (age distribution, fertility rate, life expectancy) affects domestic and foreign policy. An aging population like that of Japan faces labor shortages and increased healthcare costs, while countries with youthful populations such as Nigeria prioritize education and job creation. These demographic trends can shift national agendas and international partnerships.
6. Migration and Human Mobility
Population pressures can lead to migration trends that reshape regional demographics and economies. For example, economic migration from high-population countries to more developed nations impacts labor markets, remittances, and international relations.
7. Global Health and Development
Large populations increase the complexity of delivering healthcare, education, and basic services. Global development programs often focus on populous countries due to the scale of impact possible. During global crises like pandemics, the population size directly affects infection rates, vaccine distribution, and resource needs.
Understanding the population distribution of UN member states offers more than just numerical insightโit reveals patterns of power, development, and future challenges. Population trends impact everything from global markets and climate change to healthcare and international security.
As we navigate a rapidly evolving world, the balance between population size and sustainable development becomes increasingly critical. Countries large and small must find ways to collaborate, innovate, and adaptโnot just for their citizens, but for the shared future of our planet.
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