The world’s population in 1988

5.05B people. One hexagon represents 100,000 people.

Open the 1988 map →

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

Largest populations in 1988

RegionPopulation
1Sichuan107.1M
2Nigeria82.9M
3Henan82.6M
4Shandong81.8M
5Bihar81.4M
6Mexico78.4M
7Maharashtra74.1M
8Jiangsu65.4M
9West Bengal64.0M
10Vietnam63.1M

The largest relative change from 1987: United Arab Emirates (+89k people).