Travelling to different countries can be exciting and fun for a number of reasons.
Understanding their culture, history, beliefs and religion are just to name a few.
But often, the population gets overlooked, it’s something that’s not really seen to be important for most.
However, for those of you that find this sort of stuff interesting, and would like to understand a bit more about the world you live in, then this article’s for you.
Here’s a list of the 10 most populated countries in the world:
The 10 Most Populated Countries In The World
The list of countries and figures mentioned below have been compiled from various sources around the web, such as Wikipedia, Worldometres & World Population Review.
These are the 10 most populated countries in the world:
10. Mexico – 128 Million
The tenth most populated country in the World is Mexico.
With a current population of 128 million people, Mexico has overtaken Japan and the Philippines to claim its spot in the top ten.
Mexico covers an area of approximately 1,972,550 square metres and holds roughly 1.63% of the world’s population.
It has a population density of around 66 per km², with the majority of the population aged between 25-54.
Mexico City, Itzapalpa and Ecetepec are the most densely populated cities in the country, holding around 16 million people combined.
9. Russia – 146 Million
Next up, we have a country with 146 million people and a total land area of 16, 376,870 km².
The population density in Russia roughly equates to nine people per km².
Russia’s population is equivalent to approximately 1.89% of the worlds total population and it has an average median age of 38.8 years.
Like many countries, the majority of Russias population resides in urban areas, such as the capital city, Moscow, which has a population of 12.1 million people.
Russia’s population isn’t expected to increase any time soon, in fact, it’s more likely to decline slowly over the next decade, with many experts predicting a total population of 140 million by 2030.
However, government incentives have been put in place to offer new mothers monetary rewards for having three or more children.
So, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
8. Bangladesh – 167 Million
Bangladesh is the eighth-most populated country in the world.
It has a total land area of 130,170 km² and roughly 1,250 people per km².
Dhaka is the capital city of Bangladesh, with a population of 14.4 million people.
The population of Bangladesh is equivalent to 2.11% of the total world population.
The median age in Bangladesh is 26.1 years and at this current time, the country is growing at approximately 1%.
By 2020, Bangladesh is expected to reach a population of approximately 170 million and 186 million by 2030.
7. Nigeria – 202 Million
The current population of Nigeria is approximately 202 million people.
Over 50% of people, 51.2% to be exact, live in urban areas.
Nigeria has many cities, five of which have a population of more than one million people.
Lagos is Nigeria’s capital city and by far the largest city in Nigeria. It has roughly 17.5 million people.
The median age of Nigeria is 17.9 years old and there are approximately 221 people per km².
Nigeria has a total land area of 910,770 km² and its population is equivalent to 2.61% of the total world population.
It’s predicted that Nigeria’s population is expected to hit 206 million by 2020 and 264 million by 2030. If that rate of growth continues, by 2036 Nigeria could cross the 300 million population threshold.
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6. Brazil – 211 Million
Brazil is the sixth most populated country in the world, with a current total population of 211 million.
It’s the largest country in South America, with a population density of 24.66 people per km².
The largest city is Sao Paulo, with a total of 11.9 million residents, and the Capital, Brasilia, has a population of 2.8 million.
Brazil covers a total area of 8,358,140 km² and holds roughly 25 people per km².
It has a median age of 31.8 years and 87.4% of the population is urban.
Due to families deciding to wait longer to have children and more Brazilian woman entering the workplace, the birth rate in Brazil has fallen considerably since 1970.
The average birth rate today is 1.77 births per woman, which has fallen from 4 per woman in the 70s.
It is expected that Brazil will continue to grow slowly until 2050, and then the impacts of a decline in birth rate will start to take effect and the population will begin to stagnate and or decrease.
5. Pakistan – 216 Million
Coming in at number five on the list is Pakistan. With a population of just over 216 million, Pakistans population density is 281 per km².
It has a total land area of 770,880km² and most of the population can be found in its major cities and urbanised areas.
Pakistan has 10 cities with over one million people residing in them.
The two biggest cities are Karachi and Lahore. Karachi has a population of 14,916,456 and Lahore has 11,126,285.
The current median age in Pakistan is 22.0 years and its population is equivalent to 2.81% of the total world population.
Pakistan has a current growth rate of around 2%, however, this is expected to drop to 1% by 2050.
It’s expected that the population will hit around 245 million by 2030.
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4. Indonesia – 270 Million
Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world.
It has a current population of 270 million people and a population density of 149 per km².
Indonesia is made up of approximately 17,000 islands and has a total land area covering 1,811,570 km².
About 56.7% of Indonesia’s population, live in Java, the most populated island.
The median age in Indonesia is 28.8 years old and the population equates to 3.51% of the total world population.
It has 11 cities with a population of over one million, and its capital city, Jakarta, has a population of 10.6 million.
Indonesia’s population has doubled in the last 4o years, from 119 million in 1971 to 240 million in 2010. It is expected that the countries population will continue to grow over the next coming decades.
3. United States – 329 Million
The United States has a population of 329 million people. It is the third most populated country in the world.
America is pretty big in comparison to some other countries on the list, with a total land area of 9,147,420 km².
It has a population density of 36 people per km² and 82.5% of people live in urban areas.
Its most populated states are California and Texas. California has a population of 39.5 million and Texas has a population of 28.7 million.
The largest city in the United States is New York City, with a population of approximately 8.4 million.
By 2050, the United States is expected to grow to a population of 438 million people.
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2. India – 1.37 Billion
The second most populated country in the world is India, with a total population of 1.37 billion people.
The country has pretty much doubled in size in the last 40 years, adding approximately 181.5 million people from 2001 to 2011.
Its population is now equivalent to 17.71 of the total world population and has a very high population density of 461 people per km².
As we’ve seen with most countries on our list, the majority of the population can be found in the major cities and urbanised areas.
Roughly 34.5% of India’s population is located throughout its major cities, like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.
Mumbai, India’s capital city, has a population of 12.5 million people.
The median age in India is 27.1 years.
It’s expected that as India’s population continues to grow, it will surpass China by 2024 and become the most populated country in the world.
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1. China – 1.43 Billion
The crown for the most populated country in the world goes to China.
It holds almost 20%, 18.59% to be exact, of the world’s population within its borders.
It has a total land area of 9,388, 211 km² and has a population density of 153 per km².
Most of Chinas population can be found in the big cities, like Shanghai and Beijing and its median age is 37.
The capital, Beijing, has approximately 11,716,620 residents and Shanghai, the biggest city in China, holds around 22,315,474.
Since the implementation of the one-child policy, Chinas growth rate has slowed down significantly.
It’s predicted that it will continue to slow down and the population will begin to decrease by 2030 onwards.
For now, we will just have to wait and see what happens. India is hot on its tail to take the title of the most populated country in the world.