Largest Countries

Although the EarthView globe does not show political boundaries, we often discuss the locations of countries, especially those with the largest populations. As of 2010, the ten most populous countries are those listed above. The U.S. Census Bureau's country rankings page allows users to find the rank of any country in any year from 1950 to 2050 (future rankings are estimates, of course).

To make direct comparisons possible, the database shows the ranking of Russia for all years, even though prior to 1991 it was not listed separately and was part of the Soviet Union's number-three ranking. Its first post-Soviet ranking was number six, but it has now fallen to number nine. Use the database to estimate when Russia will drop from the top-ten ranking in population.

Its position as the largest country by land area will not change, of course, as 11.5 percent of the earth's land is in Russia, no matter how many people live there.

COUNTRY OR AREA	POPULATION 2010
China	1,330,141,295
India	1,173,108,018
United States	310,232,863
Indonesia	242,968,342
Brazil	201,103,330
Pakistan	184,404,791
Bangladesh	156,118,464
Nigeria	152,217,341
Russia	139,390,205
Japan	126,804,433

This map was created by the US CIA but is
hosted on the web site of the Embassy of Russia to the UK