The world’s population in 1978

4.24B people. One hexagon represents 100,000 people.

Open the 1978 map →

Drawn as they stood de facto, the map this year includes Czechoslovakia, Germany, Timor (whole island), Yugoslavia.

Largest populations in 1978

RegionPopulation
1Sichuan93.2M
2Java87.7M
3Bangladesh80.4M
4Pakistan77.9M
5Shandong69.7M
6Henan68.2M
7Bihar65.8M
8Nigeria65.5M
9Mexico63.1M
10Federal Republic of Germany, DE59.3M

The largest relative change from 1977: United Arab Emirates (+95k people).