Top 10 Most Populated Countries in the World Today

As the James Bond movie goes “The World is not Enough”, the world is indeed getting smaller and smaller by the day and nearly becoming too overcrowded to be inhabited comfortably by humans.

Based on the most recent estimates, the world is inhabited by approximately 6.77 billion people. With the rate the population of the world is growing, some say it will eventually explode. Consequently, there are serious efforts to explore other options living on other planets.

With this population talk, have you ever wondered what countries are the most populated? Let’s see…

10. Japan

Starting at the tenth place of our list is a country comprised of roughly 126,536,000 strong and dubbed as the land of the rising sun, is Japan. For the year 2010, Tokyo, the capital city, is considered as the most populated city in the world – composed of a total number of 35.7 million people, or 28.21% of the total population of the country!

9. Russia

Slightly ahead by approximately 20 million people and holding the ninth place of our list is Russia, with a total population of 142,958,000 – with the population growing at a rate of around 0.1% annually. One of the biggest cities that contributed to the population of the country is its capital city, Moscow. It has been noted that Moscow has 11.5 million people, also placing it at the top ten most populated cities in the world.

8.  Bangladesh

Sitting closely in the eighth spot is Bangladesh, with an estimated population of 148,692,000 people. Bangladesh is considered as the eleventh most densely populated country in the world. Statistics say that as compared to China, Bangladesh is composed of 7 people per square kilometer, and as compared to India that has an average 0f 3 people per square kilometer.

Bangladesh is a very young country, where 60% of its population has an age range of 25 years old and younger and a life expectancy of approx 63 years old.

7. Nigeria

Seventh on our list is a country expected to reach a population of more than 310 million people by 2050 – Nigeria. According to recent predictions of the UN, the West African area has potential to become the third most populated country at the end of the century.

The current population of Nigeria is 158,423,000 and is said to annually grow at the rate of 2.6%. By doing the math, the country would double its population every 27 years!

6. Pakistan

As of 2010, Pakistan is documented to have a population of 173,593,000, earning the country the sixth spot on this list. With a population of 45.9 million in 1960, it is jaw-dropping how far the population of the country has grown.

5. Brazil

According to 2010 information, Brazil ranks fifth among the ten most populated countries in the world, garnering a total population of 194,946,000. One of the major cities of Brazil is Sao Paolo, which is also placed among the ten most overcrowded cities in the world. As a matter of fact, the capital city of Brazil is recorded to house about 11.3 million inhabitants.

4. Indonesia

Indonesia ranks fourth as the one of the most populated countries in the world. It’s colossal archipelago is comprised of 17,000 islands and covers a total area of 1.9 million square kilometers. Housing a total of 239,781,000 inhabitants, Indonesia’s demography is composed of the following: 27.3% with an age range of 0-14 years of age, 66.5% between 15-64 years of age and 6.1% aged 65 and above.

3. United States

One of the big three of our list and conquering the third place is the United States of America (or simply the USA). With a total head count of 310,384,000, the US remain to be way behind our top two. Among the many states of the country, California ranks as the most populated state – housing a total number of 37.7 million inhabitants; with Texas ranking second with 25.7 million. It also has the one of the most populated cities in the world, New York, with a head count of 8.2 million.

2. India

India ranks at second place with 1,224,614 inhabitants. Lately, India has had a slower growth rate but its growth rate remained higher than that of its number one contender, China. As forecasted by the UN, India is expected to exceed China by year 2028.

Proving that she is rightfully at second place, India has the three cities that form three of the top ten most populated cities in the world – Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata.

1. China

As expected, the champion of this list is none other than, yes, you guessed it right, China. China is the most populated country in the world with a whopping population of 1,341,335,000 people! Out numbering India by 100 million, China rightfully snatches the first spot. For those who love trivia, basing on an estimate made, China contains 19.16% of the total world population.

The capital of China is Beijing, but the largest city of the country is Shanghai, which also made in to the top ten most inhabited cities in the world!