Country Digest

The population of Hong Kong is estimated by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department to be 7,346,700. 

With a population of 7.35 million people, Hong Kong makes up 0.53% of the total population of China and is the sixteenth largest city in China.

Hong Kong used to be a British colony, but since 1997 it has been an autonomous territory within China. Because it has control over its own domestic policy, Hong Kong is sometimes classed as a sovereign state.

Because of Hong Kong’s small size, it is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. In 2016, the population density of Hong Kong was 6,624 people per square kilometer or 17,156 people per square mile.

Life expectancy in Hong Kong is among the highest in the world, at 83.74 years (2015 data).

How many people live in Hong Kong today

The Hong Kong census and statistics department releases an estimate of the current population of Hong Kong every year.

The latest estimate, released in June 2016, showed that the number of people living in Hong Kong in mid-2016 was 7,346,700 people. A revised estimate showing the 2017 population is expected in February 2017.

The number of men living in Hong Kong was 3,370,100. The number of women was slightly higher, at 3,956,200.

Hong Kong is made up of three regions – Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories. The most recent statistics available for the population of all three of Hong Kong’s regions comes from 2011 and is as follows:

Hong Kong Census 2016

Hong Kong holds a full census every ten years and a by-census mid-way between each full census.

The last full census in Hong Kong was held in 2011, and the next one will be held in 2021. This census counted the entire population of Hong Kong.

The 2016 census will be a by-census. Instead of being sent to every household, a census form will be sent to around 10% of residential addresses in the territory. This should provide enough information to allow the government to provide updated estimates.

The 2016 by-census is due to start on 30 June and finish on 2 August.

You can read more about the 2011 census here, and the 2016 by-census here.

Hong Kong population growth

Population growth in Hong Kong has been relatively steady since the end of British rule in 1997. In recent years, the annual population increase in Hong Kong been between 0.6% and 0.9% per annum.

Here is a table listing the annual population growth rate in Hong Kong for each of the last five years.

It shows that although Hong Kong’s overall growth rate has remained fairly consistent, growth has shifted from being driven by natural population increases (more births than deaths) to being driven by immigration.

Hong Kong’s natural population growth rate has slowed from 54,000 people in 2011 to 17,5000 people in 2015. At the same time, Hong Kong immigration rates are on the rise, increasing from 6,300 people in 2011 to 43,800 people in 2015.

Hong Kong population by year

Here is a table showing the population of Hong Kong by selected years since 1841.

The table shows that there were dramatic changes in the HK population during and immediately after the second world war.

There were also significant population increases in the 1970s, when the government struggled to control illegal immigration from China, and in the early 1990s just before the transition from British to Chinese rule.

Hong Kong population density

Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated country or territory in the world, after Macau (another autonomous territory within China), Monaco and Singapore.

If we know the size of a territory and the number of people who live in it, we can work out the population density by dividing Hong Kong population by the Hong Kong size.

At the start of 2016, Hong Kong’s population of 7,324,300 people lived in a territory of 1,106 km sq, or 427 square miles.

This puts the final population density of Hong Kong at 6,624 people per square kilometre, or 17,156 people per square mile.

Hong Kong Island is the most densely populated part of Hong Kong. It is home to 16,390 people per square km and 42,450 people per square mile.

The most densely populated district in Hong Kong is Kwun Tong in Kowloon. In 2014 its population density was 57,250 people per square kilometer. This puts it just outside of the 30 most densely populated districts in the world.

Ethnic groups in Hong Kong

The great majority of people in Hong Kong are ethnic Chinese, who made up 92.6% of the population at the time of the 2011 census.

The other three groups with more than 0.5% of the population are Filipino (1.9%), Indonesian (1.9%) and White (0.8%).

Although the number of most ethnic groups has remained relatively stable in recent years, Hong Kong has seen a surge of immigration from Indonesians, whose numbers more than doubled from 50,494 in 2001 to 133,377 in 2011 and Pakistanis, whose numbers rose from 11,017 in 2001 to 18,042 in 2011.

What are people from Hong Kong called?

Technically, people who are resident in Hong Kong are called Hong Kong Permanent Residents.

However, more informally, residents of Hong Kong are commonly referred to as a Hong Konger (sometimes Hongkonger) or Hong Kongese (sometimes Hongkongese). Interestingly, in 2014 both words were included for the first time in the Oxford English Dictionary (see links).

A recent survey found that 38% of people in Hong Kong considered themselves to be Hong Kong Citizens whereas only 17% considered themselves to be Chinese citizens. A further 43% of the population of HK considered themselves to be both Hong Kong citizens and Chinese citizens.

Hong Kong language

Hong Kong has two official languages – Chinese and English.

Chinese became an official language in Hong Kong only in 1974 – before that English was the only official language. The official status of both languages is set out in the Hong Kong Basic Law.

In practice, Cantonese is the main variant of the Chinese language used in Hong Kong, although Mandarin (sometimes also referred to as Putonghua) is increasingly common.

Although English is one of Hong Kong’s two official languages, it is not spoken by the majority of people in Hong Kong. In fact, once we count people who speak it as a first or second language, it is the third most widely spoken language in Hong Kong, after Cantonese and Mandarin.

Cantonese is spoken by 95.8% of people in Hong Kong. It is spoken by 89.5% as a first language and by 6.3% as a second language.

Mandarin is spoken by 47.8% of people in Hong Kong. Although just 1.4% of Hong Kongers speak it is a first language, a much larger 46,5% can speak it as a second language.

English is spoken by 46.1% of Hong Kongers. It is the first language of just 3.5% of Hong Kong residents, and a second language of 46.1% of residents.

(Data from 2011 census.)

Hong Kong life expectancy

According to the UN, overall life expectancy in Hong Kong was 83.74 years in 2015.

Life expectancy for men in Hong Kong is 80.91 years and life expectancy for women in Hong Kong is 86.58 years.

This means that Hong Kong has the highest life expectancy of any country or territory in the world today.

Experts attribute this longevity to Hong Kong’s excellent health care system – it is thought to have some of the best private hospitals in the world – and a healthy lifestyle. Some argue that the lack of a statutory retirement age, which means that many Hongkongers work well into their seventies or eighties, is a factor.

Hong Kong demographics

Hong Kong birth rate and death rate

Hong Kong’s birth rate in 2014 was 8.6 births per 1,000 population. This means that Hong Kong has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, well below the replacement rate.

The birth rate has fallen from a high of 35 births per 1,000 population in the 1961.

The Hong Kong death rate (also known as mortality rate) is 6.2 deaths per 1,000 population. This figure has remained relatively stable over the past four decades.

Hong Kong religion

Although religious freedom in Hong Kong is protected by the basic law, no official data on religion in Hong Kong is collected. As a result, most available figures are estimates.

The Hong Kong government estimates that there are more than 1 million Buddhists and more than 1 million Taoists in Hong Kong.

The same government report indicates that there are 480,000 Protestant Christians and 379,000 Catholics in Hong Kong. Additionally, there are about 300,000 Muslims and 100,000 Hindus

Hong Kong literacy rate

The adult literacy rate in Hong Kong is 95.7%. This includes all adults, so the literacy rate among younger people from Hong Kong is likely to be significantly higher.

Where is Hong Kong?

Hong Kong is on the southern coast of China.

To the north of Hong Kong is the Chinese province of Guangdong, which contains Guangzhou, the third largest city in China. The city of Shenzhen is just across the border from Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is made up three regions – Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories.

Hong Kong was ruled by Britain from 1842 until 1997, when sovereignty over Hong Kong was transferred to China.

Today, Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China.

This means that, although Hong Kong is formally a part of the People’s Republic of China, it has considerable autonomy when it comes to running its own day to day affairs. It has its own government and, with some restrictions, has control of its own domestic policy. Foreign affairs and defense are handled by the Chinese government in Beijing.

The population of Slovenia (2021) is 2,063,317. This figure is provided by the Slovenian Government (see below for detail).

Slovenia is the 143rd largest country in the world by population and the 38th largest country in Europe. Slovenia, which joined the European Union on 1 May 2004, is the 23rd largest country in the EU (out of 28 countries).

How many people live in Slovenia today?

The Slovenian Government’s Statistical Office releases population estimates four times a year. In its last release (July 2016) it reported that the population of Slovenia on 1 April 2016 was 2,063,371.

This represented a small drop (817 people) in population since 1 January 2016, but an increase of 1,419 since 1 April 2015. This is a year on year increase of 0.07%.

The last census to take place in Slovenia was in 2011. It reported a population of 2,050,189 on 1 January 2011, and all subsequent population estimates are based on data from the census.

Slovenia population growth

Slovenia’s birth rate is below replacement rate. Additionally, around 250,000 Slovenes live abroad, mostly in other parts of the EU.

Because of this, population growth in Slovenia comes from immigration into the country.

According to the Statistical Office there are 108,899 (5.3% of the population) of Slovenia’s citizens were born outside of the EU.

For a table detailing population growth since the 1940s, see the end of this article.

Largest cities in Slovenia

Ljubljana is the largest city in Slovenia, as well as the country’s capital city. On 1 January 2016, the population of Ljubljana was 279,756.

Other major cities are Maribor (population 111,832), Celje (population 37,787), Kranj (population 37,586) and Koper/Capodistria (population 25,306).

Here is a table listing the ten most populous cities in Slovenia.

Note: Koper, a city on near the border with Italy and with a large Italian population, is called Capodistria in Italian.

Ethnic groups in Slovenia

Slovenes are the largest ethnic group in Slovenia. They made up 83.1% of the population in 2002, the last year for which official data is available.

Slovenia’s history as a former republic of Yugoslavia means that Slovenia has significant Serb, Croat, Muslim and Bosniak minorities.

Slovenia also has small Italian and Hungarian minorities. Unlike minorities from the former Yugoslavia, Italians and Hungarians have rights under the Slovenian Constitution, including guaranteed seats in the National Assembly.

Religion in Slovenia

Slovenia is primarily a Roman Catholic country. At the 2002 census (latest data available) 57.8% of Slovenians reported that they were Catholic.

Leaving aside non-religious groups and those who didn’t declare a religion, the next largest religious groups in Slovenia are Islam (2.4%) and Eastern Orthodoxy (2.3%). Islam is practised primarily by Bosniaks and Slavic Muslims, which Eastern Orthodoxy is practised primarily by ethnic Serbs.

Languages in Slovenia

Slovene, which is more commonly known as Slovenian, is the official language of Slovenia, and an official language of the EU. It is the first language of 87.8% of people in Slovenia and is spoken at home by 92% of people.

Other first languages spoken in Slovenia are Croatian (2.8%), Serbian (1.6%), Serbo-Croatian (1.6%), Albanian (0.4%), Macedonian (0.2%), Romany (0.2%).

Hungarian and Italian are also official languages in a number of regions within Slovenia, and are spoken by 0.4% and 0.2% of the population respectively.

Other demographic data

Population density

The area of Slovenia is 20,273 square km or 7,827 sq miles. Based on the population on 1 April 2016 (2,063,371), population density in Slovenia is 101.78 people per square kilometre and 263.62 people per square mile.

Literacy rate

The literacy rate in Slovenia is 99.7%.

Life expectancy

Life expectancy in Slovenia at birth is 80 years. For Slovenian women it is 84 years and for Slovenian men it is 77 years.

Birth and death rate

The birth rate in Slovenia was 10.0 births per 1,000.

This represents an increase over the birth rate at the turn of the century (it was 8.7/1,000 in 2003). But, as noted earlier, Slovenia’s birth rate is lower than needed to maintain the population. Instead, Slovenian population growth is driven by immigration into Slovenia.

The death rate in Slovenia was 9.6 deaths per 1,000.

Slovenia population pyramid

Slovenia population by year (census year)

This table list the population of Slovenia at the time of each census.

For the latest, post-2011 census, population estimates, see the top of this article.

The population of Jamaica is 2,950,210. This makes Jamaica the fourth largest country in the Caribbean by population (after Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti), the 13th largest country in North America and the 138th largest country in the world.

Despite its small population, Jamaica is a formidable competitor at the Olympics. Its sprinters have won 23 medals (10 gold medals, 7 silver and 6 bronze) at the last two Olympics (London and Beijing). As a result, Jamaica ranked second on our table of London 2012 Olympic medals per capita.

This year Usain Bolt is one of the favourites to win the Rio 2016 Olympic 100m and 200m titles. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is also a strong challenger for the women’s 100m title. Others in the hunt for medals are Omar McLeod and Hansle Parchment (110m hurdles). Jamaica is also expected to feature strongly in the sprint relay races.

Click here to see where Jamaica stand in the Rio 2016 per capita medal table.

How many people live in Jamaica today?

Unfortunately, no official estimates of the population of Jamaica in 2016 are available yet. The latest estimate (2,950,210) is for mid-2015 and is provided by the CIA Factbook.

The most recent official population estimate comes from the Government of Jamaica, who reported that at the end of 2014 Jamaica’s population was 2,720,554.

The population at the time of the last Jamaican census (2011) was 2,697,983. To see the Jamaica population increase over time, refer to the table at the end of this article.

Largest cities in Jamaica

Kingston is both the capital city of Jamaica and the largest city in Jamaica, with a population of 584,627 (2011 census).

The population of Kingston has increased by 5% since the previous census in 2001, which reported a population of 993,581.

There are two other cities in Jamaica with a population of more than 100,000 people – Spanish Town (147,512) and Montego Bay (110,115).

Here is a table listing the largest cities in Jamaica.

Ethnic groups in Jamaica

Most Jamaicans are descended from African slaves brought to the island to work on British sugar plantations in the 18th century. There is also a significant number of Jamaicans who are descended from East Indians and Chinese workers brought to the islands after the abolition of slavery.

More than 92% of Jamaicans identified as Black in the 2011 census. A further 6.1% identified as Mixed.

Jamaican diaspora – Jamaicans Abroad

Over the last 50 years around a million Jamaicans have emigrated to other countries – mostly the UK, Canada and the USA.

The USA Jamaican population is the largest in the world. In 2013 the US Census bureau reported that there were 1,091,482 Jamaican Americans in the US. It is thought that around 60% were born in Jamaica, the rest are descended from earlier immigrants. More than half of Jamaican Americans live in New York State and Florida.

The UK’s Jamaican population is the second largest in the world. Around 150,000 people born in Jamaica live in the UK, but the total number of people who are Jamaican British (either born in Jamaica or of Jamaican descent) is estimated to be approximately 800,000 people. The majority live in British cities, primarily London and Birmingham.

Religion in Jamaica

Protestant Christians are the largest religious group in Jamaica, although they are broken into a number of different denominations.

In total, 64.8% of Jamaicans are estimated to be Protestant. Other major groups are Roman Catholic (2.2%), Jehova’s Witness (1.9%) and Rastafarian (1.1%). Just over a fifth of Jamaicans (21.3%) reported that they had no religion.

Languages in Jamaica

There are two languages in common use in Jamaica – Jamaican Standard English and Jamaican Patois.

Jamaican Standard English is the language used in formal communications, the media and education. Jamaican Patois is a creole language derived from English and is more commonly used in spoken conversation.

Detailed statistics about usage are not available, although a 2007 survey indicated that 46.4% of Jamaicans were effectively bilingual. The remainder could speak only one language – either Jamaican Standard English (17.1%) or Jamaican Patois (36.5%).

Population density in Jamaica

The total area of Jamaica is 10,991 square km or 4,244 square miles.

If we take the 2015 population estimate (2,950,210) and divide it by the area we can work out that Jamaica’s population density is 268 people per square km or 695 people per square mile.

Jamaican Literacy Rate

The literacy rate in Jamaica is estimated to be 88% (2013, World Bank).

Jamaican Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth in Jamaica is 73.55 years. Female life expectancy is 75.24 years and male life expectancy is 71.93 years.

Jamaica population pyramid

Jamaica population by year table

Note: this table details the end of the year population figures provided by the Jamaican Government, via the Statistics Institute of Jamaica (STATIN).

The population of Brazil is 210,147,125 people.

Brazil’s population is growing at a rate of 0.8% per year, so it is likely that Brazil’s population will reach 207 million by the beginning of 2017.

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, the largest country in South America, and the second largest country in the Americas (after the United States).

In August 2016 Rio de Janeiro in Brazil hosted the Olympic games for the first time. The Games took place during a period of concern about the Zika virus. The Brazilian government urged women to delay pregnancies and there is speculation that this could cause an alarming drop in the birth rate in Brazil.

How many people live in Brazil today?

The latest up to date population estimates can be found by visiting the official government of Brazil population clock, which is constantly updating.

The figures are estimated, based on extrapolations from the 2010 Brazilian census, which indicated that the Brazil population in 2008 was 190.8 million people.

The population of Brazil has been steadily growing since records were first kept. This chart shows population growth since the first census was taken in 1872. The underlying population data used to create this chart can be found in the table at the end of this article.

Ethnic groups in Brazil

Brazil is an ethnically diverse country, descended from three main populations:

• Indigenous Brazilian peoples
• European (mainly Portuguese) settlers
• Sub-Saharan Africans, sent to Brazil as slaves

Over time the ethnic groups have mixed, leading to an ethnically diverse society.

Brazilian census data classifies people as one of five main groups. They are:

• Branco (white)
• Pardo (brown)
• Preto (black)
• Amaerlo (yellow)
• Indigenous

The 2010 census reported the following breakdown:

Racial identity is more fluid in Brazil than in many countries of the world. People often define their race based on physical appearance rather than genetic heritage, and people who are more successful are more likely to be considered (or to consider themselves) white.

Mixed into these groupings are substantial Japanese-Brazilian (largely in the São Paulo region) and Jewish (largely based in the Rio de Janeiro area) communities.

The indigenous people of Brazil are, as you would expect for such a geographically large country, from many distinct ethnic groups. Povos Indigenas no Brasil estimates that there are 246 different indigenous Brazilian peoples.

Around 100 indigenous Brazilian tribes are still isolated and uncontacted.

Religions in Brazil

Christianity is the largest religion in Brazil. According to the 2010 census, 86.8% of Brazilians are Christian.

Roman Catholicism is the largest Christian grouping within Brazil – 64.6% of Brazilians are Catholic, and Brazil has the largest single Roman Catholic population in the world today.

Another 22.2% are Protestants, largely Evangelical and Pentecostal. Protestantism, particularly Evangelicalism, is growing rapidly while the proportion of Roman Catholics is falling.

The other significant groupings are those with no religion (8%) and those who practise Spiritism (2%).

A further 3.2% practice other religions, including small Buddhist, Jewish and Islamic populations.

Languages in Brazil

Portuguese is the official language of Brazil, and is spoken by almost everyone in the country.

Brazil is the only country in South America to have Portuguese as its official language. Over time, Brazilian Portuguese has diverged slightly from European Portuguese – in much the same way that American English has diverged from European English.

In addition to Portuguese at least a further 200 indigenous languages are spoken in Brazil today. They are all spoken by relatively small communities, however.

The most widely spoken indigenous language in Brazil is Kaiwa Guarani which has around 15,000 native speakers. Most are in the Southern Brazilian province of Mato Grosso do Sul. A few hundred additional speakers are across the border in Northern Argentina.

There are also substantial numbers of Japanese speakers (around 380,000), Spanish speakers (around 480,000) and Korean speakers (around 37,000) in Brazil.

Education and literacy rate

Brazil has a comprehensive and well funded state education system. The constitution of Brazil guarantees that a proportion of state taxes (25%) and federal taxes (18%) is set aside each year for education funding.

The administration of education in Brazil is decentralised, being mostly run by individual states and municipalities.

Education is compulsory for all children aged from 6-14 years.

There are more than 2,400 universities in Brazil. Around ten percent of Brazilian universities are publicly funded; the remaining 90% are private universities or run by charitable organisations.

Access to university education in Brazil is limited – only 11% of the working age population has a degree. The university sector has expanded rapidly in recent years, however, from just under 600,000 students in 1997 to 1.6 million students in 2010. Most of this growth has been in the private university sector.

The University of São Paulo is regarded as the best university in Brazil. According to the Times (UK) it is ranked between 201st and 250th in the world.

Literacy rate

The literacy rate in Brazil (2015 UN estimate) is 92.6%. The literacy rate for women (92.9%) is slightly higher than for men (92.2%).

Literacy rates for younger Brazilians are higher, at 98.9% for people aged 15-24 years. For males aged 15-24 the literacy rate is 98.6% and for females it is 99.2%.

Altho gh lower than the Brazilian government would like, the Brazilian literacy rate has improved dramatically over the past 50 years. In 1960 the literacy rate was around 60%.

Literacy rates vary widely across Brazil, however. The 2010 census indicated that rates ranged from 97% in Distrito Federal to 77% in Alagoas.

Population density in Brazil

Brazil is one of the least densely populated countries in the world.

Population density in Brazil is 23.8 people per square kilometer or 62 people per square mile.

This makes Brazil the 192nd most densely populated country in the world.

Source: Felipe Menegaz

The majority of the Brazilian population is located in Brazil’s eastern, coastal states. As a result, it’s north-western, interior, states are much less densely populated.

The most densely populated states in Brazil are the Distrito Federal (493.5 people per square km) and Rio de Janeiro (376.0 people per square km).

The least densely populated states are Roraima (2.2 people per square km) and Amazons (2.5 people per square km). These two states are about as densely populated as Mongolia.

Largest cities in Brazil

The population of São Paulo is 12,038,175 (2016 estimate). This makes São Paulo the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in South America, the largest city in the Americas and the 11th largest city in the world today.

The next largest city is Rio de Janeiro, with a population of 6,453,682.

Brasília, the capital city, is the fourth largest city in Brazil. Although Brasília was only founded in 1960, today it is home to 2,852,372 people.

Here is a list of the ten largest cities in Brazil.

Other Brazilian demographic data

Unless otherwise stated, data in this section is from the CIA Factbook, and dated 2015.

Sex ratio

The sex ratio at birth in Brazil is 1.05 male(s) to every female. The overall sex ratio is 0.97 male(s) to every female.

Life expectancy

Life expectancy in Brazil at birth is 73.53 years. For males, life expectancy is 69.99 years and for females it is 77.25 years.

Median age

The median age in Brazil is 31.1 years. For males it is 30.3 years and for females it is 31.9 years.

Birth and death rate

Brazil’s birth rate is 14.46 births / 1,000 population.

Its death rate is 6.58 deaths / 1,000 people.

Fertility rate

Fertility rate in Brazil is 1.77 children per woman.

This relatively low fertility rate is causing some concern because it is below the replacement rate of 2.33 children per woman and lower than the fertility rate in the United States (1.88 children per woman).

Brazil population pyramid

Here is the latest (2016) Brazil population pyramid.

It demonstrates that Brazil has a comparatively young population.

Brazil population by year table

This table details the population growth of Brazil, with an entry for every year in which a census took place in Brazil.

The first census was held in 1872 and censuses have been held roughly every ten years since then.

The table also includes population data for 2016, based on the official Brazilian population clock on 9 June 2016.

Latest government data (from the 2016 census) puts the Cook Islands population at 17,459 people.

This figure includes short term visitors to the island, mainly tourists on holiday. The resident population of the Cook Islands (from September 2016) is estimated to be 11,700.

Unless otherwise noted, statistics in this article are drawn from the results of the 2011 Cook Islands census.

How many people live in the Cook Islands today?

Results from the 2011 census indicated that there were 17,794 people on the Cook Islands on 1 December 2011. This was made up of 14,974 residents and 2,820 visitors, mostly tourists holidaying in the Cook Islands.

Of the Cook Islands residents, 7,409 were male and 7,484 were female.

Rarotonga is the most populous island in the Cooks, home to 10,572 residents and 2,523 of the 2,820 visitors.

Population Growth in the Cook Islands

Population in the Cook Islands varies from year to year.

This is partly because within a small population a slightly higher than normal number of deaths or births in one year can have a dramatic affect on population figures.

It is also partly because many Cook Islanders spend time off the islands, living in other countries – primarily New Zealand, where they have citizenship.

The Cook Islands population grew steadily during the first half of the 20th century, from around 8,000 people in 1900 to just over 20,000 people (visitors and residents) in 1971.

After a small dip in the 1970s the population has stabilised at around 18,000 people, including around 15,000 residents.

The resident population of the Cook Islands at the last three censuses is as follows:

Ethnic Groups in the Cook Islands

Cook Islands Maori are the largest ethnic group on the Cook Islands. 81% (12,180 people) reported that they were Cook Islands Maori and a further 7% (1,005 people) reported that they were part Cook Islands Maori.

The remaining 12% of respondents (1,789 people) reported that they were of another ethnic origin – most commonly of New Zealand European origin.

The ethnic composition of Rarotonga, the largest island, is different to the other islands in the country – almost all of the respondents who reported that they were of another ethnic origin live on Rarotonga.

Religion in the Cook Islands

94% of Cook Islanders reported that they were religious, and almost all of those respondents reported that they were associated with a Christian faith.

The four main churches on the Cook Islands are the protestant Cook Islands Christian Church (49%, 7,535 members), followed by the Roman Catholic Church (17%, 2,540 members), the Seventh Day Adventist Church (8%, 1,190 members) and the Mormon Church of the Latter Day Saints (5%, 656 members).

A further 841 people (6%) reported that they had no religion, and the remaining respondents reported that they were members of another, smaller, church.

Cook Islands languages

The two main languages in the Cook Islands are English and Cook Islands Maori. Both are official languages of the Cook Islands and over 90% of the Cook Islands population can speak and write in both languages.

While almost everyone is able to speak and write in English, the number who can speak and write in Cook Islands Maori varies, depending on ethnicity. Those who are Cook Island Maori are most likely to be fluent, followed by those who are part Cook Islands Maori and then those of other ethnic groups.

Cook Island Maori is closely related to New Zealand Maori. The language has been placed on the UNESCO endangered language list but with government support is actively being promoted and preserved.

Other languages in the Cook Islands include Penrhynese, Pukapukan and Rakahanga-Manihiki. They are also considered to be endangered languages.

Largest cities in the Cook Islands

Avarua, the capital city of the Cook Islands, is the only town or city on the Cook Islands of any significant size. It is located on the northern shore of Rarotonga, the largest of the Cook Islands.

According to data from 2006, the population of Avarua is 5,445 people.

Largest islands in the Cook Islands

Instead of recording population by cities, it is more useful to record the Cook Islands population by island.

Rarotonga is the largest of the Cook Islands, and the large majority of Cook Islanders live there. In 2011, the population of Rarotonga was 10,572 people.

Aitutaki is the second largest island, with a population of 1,771 people in 2011, followed by Mangaia, with a population of 562 people.

Here is a full list of the Cook Islands listing their 2011 resident population.

The Cook Islands are divided into two groups, north and south. This classification is also used at times to record population. The population of Rarotonga and the two Cook Islands groups in 2011, sorted by resident population, is as follows:

Education and Literacy Rate

The Cook Islands spends 3.1% of GDP on education. Education is compulsory for all children from 5-15 years.

The literacy rate in the Cook Islands is 95%

Many students go on to further and higher (university) education outside of the Cook Islands, normally at universities in New Zealand.

An increasing number of students are choosing to study at the University of the South Pacific, which has a Cook Islands campus and delivers many courses remotely or by distance learning.

Other Cook Islands demographic data

Data in this section is drawn from the CIA World Factbook article about the Cook Islands. Data, unless otherwise noted, is from 2015.

Sex ratio

At birth the ratio is 1.04 male(s)/female, which is slightly below the world average of 1.06 male(s)/female.

At higher ages, however, the ratio is more strongly skewed in favour of males than females compared to the rest of the world.

The ratio across the total population is 1.07 male(s)/female, which is considerably higher than the world average of 0.79 male(s)/female.

Life expectancy

Life expectancy in the Cook Islands is 75.6 years. Cook Island males can expect to live for 72.7 years, and females can expect to live for 78.6 years.

Median age

The Cook Islands has a relatively young population. Median age in the Cook Islands is 35.25 years.

For males, the median age is 34.6 years and for females the median age is 35.7 years.

Birth and death rate

The birth rate in the Cook Islands is 14.33 births/1,000 population. This is below the global average of 19.15 births/1,000 population.

The death rate in the Cook Islands is 8.03 deaths/1,00 population. This is slightly above the global average of 7.89 deaths/1,000 population.

Fertility rate

The fertility rate in the Cook Islands is 2.23 children per woman.

This is only slightly below the replacement fertility rate (the rate needed to sustain a population) which is 2.33 children per woman.

Coconut consumption

The Cook Islands is one of the few countries in the world to ask a question about coconut consumption as a part of its census.

The survey revealed that 2,947 households in the Cook Islands used 28,461 coconuts every week. That’s 10 coconuts per home per week.

Coconuts are also widely used for feeding livestock. 1,645 households reported using coconuts to feed animals, going through a total of 123,427 coconuts per week. That’s 75 coconuts per household per week.

The census also reported that 5,647 coconuts were used by 117 households for other, unspecified purposes.
There are a lot of coconuts on the Cook Islands.

Cook Islands population pyramid

The image below is of the Cook Islands 2016 population pyramid.

The population of France (2021) is 67,413,000. This estimate was produced in May 2021 by the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee).

France is the 20th largest country in the world, the fourth largest country in Europe, and the second largest country in the European Union.

France’s population is growing steadily, and it is today the fastest growing country in the European Union.

How many people live in France today?

When considering how many people live in France, it is important to understand that France itself is divided into two parts – Metropolitan France and the Overseas Departments and Territories of France.

Source: Godefroy

The largest part is known as Metropolitan France. This is the part of France that is actually in Europe. It has a population of 64,570,000.

The other part of France is its overseas departments which, despite being scattered all around the world (see: What Continent is France in?), are considered integral parts of France. Their residents are citizens of France, use the Euro as their currency, and are represented in the French parliament and the European Parliament.

There are five main French overseas departments, which, together with a small number of overseas territories, have a population of 2,119,000. The five French territories are:

Because parts of France are scattered across the world, it is what is known as a Trans-Continental country. See our article ‘What continent is France in?’ for more details.

Population growth in France

France has one of the highest natural population growth rates in the European Union. Although population growth was flat during the first half of the 20th century, its population has been growing steadily ever since and is currently growing at around 0.6% per annum.

France’s population is projected to rise steadily in the next few decades. By 2030, the population is expected to rise to over 70 million and, by 2055 there are likely to be more people living in France than there are living in Germany.

Because of the first and second world wars and the impact of the 1930s Depression in Europe, the population of France did not grow significantly between 1900 and 1945.

The population of France in 1914 was 41.6 million , a high that it was not to reach again until 1950.

The population of France fell by more than 2.5 million during the First World War, to 38.6 million. Although it recovered briefly in the 1920s and early 1930s to 41.5 million, the population was to be decimated again in the late 1930s and during the Second World War.

By 1945, the population of France had dropped again to just 39.6 million people. Renewed confidence after the end of the war saw a dramatic rise in birth rates, and France’s baby boom generation was born.

Ethnic groups in France

Since 1872 a law has been in place which prevents the French Government from collecting data on ethnicity, so official data is not available.

INSEE does, however, collect data on nationality. This showed that, in 2010, 89.7% of people in France were French by birth.

A further 4.4% of people in France were French by acquisition, 5.9% were foreign, and 8.6% were immigrants.

Ethnic French people are descended from a number of European peoples, including Celts, Iberians, Italians, Germans and Greeks. Immigrants into France over the past century mainly come from its former colonies and, more recently, from around the European Union and the globe.

An Institut Montaigne estimate, published in the Economist, argues that the the population of France in 2004 was made up of the following ethnic groups:

Religions in France

France is a secular country, and does not collect data on religion in its census.

However, a number of surveys have been conducted which demonstrate that Christianity remains, by far, the largest religion in France, followed by Islam as France’s second religion.

One of the most recent surveys, undertaken in 2012 by the Institut CSA (Consumer Science & Analytics) reported that 56% of French people regarded themselves as Christians, 32% had no religion, and 6% were Muslims.

This is broadly in line with other surveys undertaken in recent years.

Almost all of the reported Christians in France are Roman Catholic.

Languages in France

French is the official state language of France, and the most widely spoken language. It’s status is protected in the French constitution and it must by law be used in all official communications, as well as in any workplace or commercial communication.

France also has a wide range of regional languages, although none of them have official status. These are spoken as secondary languages, alongside French. They include Celtic languages (such as Breton), German languages (such as Alsatian and French Flemish) and Gallo-Romance languages (such as Languedocien).

Language map of France (source).

A number of additional languages have been introduced into France by immigrants, including Arabic, which is the most widely spoken second language in France, and Berber, a North African language.

There is not much data available about the number of people who speak various languages in France. The most recent available is a 1999 survey by the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (INSEE) which indicated that French was the mother tongue of 39.36 million people in France, followed by German dialects (0.97 million) and Arabic (0.94 million)

There are also a number of languages spoken alongside French in its overseas departments.

Education and literacy rate

The public education system in France is divided into primary, secondary and higher education. It is regulated centrally by the Ministry of National Education and teachers and university professors are all state employees.

Attendance at school is compulsory from the age of 6 until the age of 16, although most French children will also attend nursery school from the age of 3 or 4.

Most higher (university) education is state funded, although students do often have to pay a small tuition fee. The fees are set by the state, and the average is €190 per year. Some courses charge slightly higher fees, for example engineering (€620/year) and medicine (€452/year).

There are approximately 2.3 million students in tertiary education in France, a number that is roughly comparable with the UK (2.6 million) and Germany (2.4 million).

Literacy rate in France

Literacy rates in France have not been collected by INSEE since 2004.

Figures from 2003 show that France’s literacy rate is one of the highest in the world, at 99% for both male and female.

There is no reason to suggest that there has been a significant change in these figures since 2003.

Population Density in France

Although France is the second largest country by population in the European Union, it is also the largest country by area in the European Union.

Source: Der Statistiker

This means that France is less densely populated than other European countries with a comparable population, such as the UK or Germany.

The area of Metropolitan France (the part of France in Europe) is 551,695 square kilometres. So, with a total 2016 population of 64,750,000 in Metropolitan France, we can see that Metropolitan France has a population density of 117.37 people per square kilometre.

If we include France’s overseas departments and territories, the area of France increases to 643,801 square kilometres. The population (2016) also increases, to 66,689,000. By dividing 66,689,000 by 643,801, we see that the overall population density of France is 103.57 people per square kilometer.

The population density of France’s overseas departments and territories is far lower than the population of Metropolitican France. It’s population density is just 21.05 people per square kilometer.

Largest cities in France

Paris is the largest city in France. The population of Paris (2012) is 2,240,621 people. It is the fifth largest city in the European Union (after London, Berlin, Madrid and Rome) and the ninth largest city in the tt of Europe.

This is lower than the highest population recorded in Paris, which was 2.9 million people in 1921.

In the wider Paris urban area there is a much larger population of 10,550,350 people. The Paris urban area includes the built up suburbs and areas around the city of Paris, and is the most populous urban area in the European Union.

In the Paris metropolitan area (which includes the city proper, its suburbs, and other urban areas within commenting distance of Paris) there is a population of 12,405,426. This is the second largest metro area in the EU, after London which has a population of 14 million.

Other major cities in France include Marseille (population 852,516), Lyon (496,343), Toulouse (453,317), and Nice (343,619). Here is a list of the ten largest cities in France by population (based on 2012 data).

Saint-Denis, in Réunion, is the largest city in France’s overseas departments and the 21st largest city in France overall. It has a population of 142,244.

(Saint-Denis in Réunion should not be confused with Saint-Denis in Île-de-France, which is home to 108,274 people and is France’s 37th largest city.)

St Pierre in Reunion is second largest overseas city. It has a population of 81,415.

Other French demographic data

Sex ratio

The overall sex ratio (the ratio of males to females) in France is 0.96 males to every female (2015 estimate).

At birth there are 1.05 males to every female. Aged 65 or over there are 0.75 males to every female.

This is roughly similar to the EU average.

Life expectancy

Overall life expectancy in France is 82 years. This is the highest life expectancy in the European Union and the ninth highest in the world.

Life expectancy for men in France is 78.7 years (sixteenth in the world) and life expectancy for women in France is 85.2 years (fourth in the world).

Median age

The median age in France is 40.9 years.

For French men, the median age is 39.3 years and for French women the median age is 42.4 years.

Birth and death rate

The birth rate and fertility rate in France are both among the highest in the European Union.

The 2015 birth rate in France is 11.9 births per 1,000 population. This is higher than the EU average of 10.1 births per 1,000 population (2014 data).

The 2015 death rate is 9.2 deaths per 1,000 population. This is slightly lower than the EU average of 9.9 deaths per 1,000 population.

Fertility rate

The fertility rate in France is also one of the highest in the European Union. After many years of decline during the 20th century, the fertility rate in 2012 was 2.01 children per woman.

This is considerably higher than the EU average of 1.6 children per woman, and is close to what is known as the replacement rate – the number of children needed to ensure that the population remains stable.

France Diplomatie puts this down to family friendly government policies in France, including benefits and tax allowances for families, and generous maternity and paternity leave policies.

French population pyramid

Here is a French population pyramid, based on 2016 data.

China is home to more than 1.3 billion people, making it the most populous country in the world. That’s roughly one in every five people on the planet.

The Russian government estimates that the population of Russia is 146,171,015. This includes the population of Crimea, which is disputed between Russia and Ukraine. Based on this, Russia is the 9th most populous country in the world and the most populous country in Europe.

How many people live in Russia today?

Although Russia’s population has been gradually declining since the fall of the Soviet Union, the fall has slowed and stabilised in recent years. Since 2011, the population has increased modestly. The population of Russia in 2016 was 146,519,759. Data for 2017 has not, at the time of writing, been published.

When Crimea was annexed in 2014 Russia’s population received a one off increase of 2,248,400 people (based on Ukrainian census data). This increase is included in the total population figures listed in this article.

This total makes Russia the ninth largest country in the world, and the largest country in Europe, by population. Because Russia is in both Europe and Asia, it is also ranked as the sixth largest country in Asia.

Russian population growth & decline

While a part of the Soviet Union, Russia’s population grew steadily, from 98 million at the end of the second world war to 148.5 million in 1991, just before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

For the next 20 years, the population of Russia declined steadily. From its 1992 peak of 148,538,000, the number of people living in Russia fell to a low of just 143,201,700 in 2012.

The main cause of this fall in population was the shock and economic uncertainty of the transition from communism to capitalism. Russians emigrated in large numbers, often to Europe, other parts of the former Soviet Union and Israel, in search of a better and more stable life.

In an uncertain economic and political climate people put off having children and the Russian birth rate fell. This combined with an increase in the death rate – caused by factors such as poor health and healthcare, increased violence and increased consumption of alcohol – meant that, from 1992 onwards, more people in Russia were dying than being born.

As a result of the increased stability of recent years population decline in Russia gradually slowed and, in 2012, Russia saw its first population increase in two decades. Since then, Russia’s population has been steadily, if very very modestly, growing.

The incorporation of Crimea, annexed from Ukraine in 2014, boosted Russia’s population by a further 2.2 million people, but has not arrested the ongoing long-term decline in population.

Russian census

Russia holds a census roughly once every decade. The last Russian census was held in 2010. It followed an earlier census in 2002. The next Russian census is likely to take place in 2020, although this has not been confirmed by the Russian government.

The Russian government had planned to delay the 2010 census until 2013 because of a lack of funding. However, at the last minute, funding was allocated to allow the census to go ahead in 2010 after all.

The census reported that Russia’s population in 2010 was 142.9 million. This demonstrated a decrease of 1.6% (2.3 million) from the previous census in 2002.

Russian population predictions are usually developed by extrapolating the data from the most recent census.

Data from the 2010 census can be found on the official Russian federal statistics service website (in Russian).

Largest ethnic groups

The largest ethnic group in Russia is ethnic Russians. There are 111 million ethnic Russians in the Russian Federation, making up 80.1% of the population.

5.3 million Tatars, mostly based in southern European Russia, are the next largest group at 3.9% of the population. Other major groups are Ukrainians (1.4% / 1.9 million), Bashkirs (1.1% / 1.5 million), Chuvashs (1.0% / 1.4 million), Chechens (1.0% / 1.4 million) and Armenians (0.9% / 1.2 million). 5.6 million people (3.9%) did not declare their ethnicity in their census answers.

In total there are 185 ethnic groups in Russia. You can see a full list here.

Religion

The Russian census doesn’t record religious belief, so all data is based on surveys and estimates. For this article, we have used data from the 2012 Arena Atlas of Religions and Nationalities of the Russian Federation.

The Arena survey found that the largest religion in Russia is Orthodox Christianity, with 41% of Russians identifying as Russian Orthodox Christians. Other Christian groups (including other Orthodox Christians, Protestants, Catholics, and other unaffiliated Christians) make up 7.3% of the Russian population.

After Christianity, Islam is the second largest religion in Russia, with 6.5% of the population. Other religions include native religions (1.2%) and Buddhism (0.5%).

Islam is the second largest religious group, with 6.5% of the population. Although some surveys claim that the number of Muslims in Russia is much higher – between 10% and 20% of the population – this is because people have identified themselves in censuses and other surveys as belonging to “Islamic ethnic groups” in Russia, and not necessarily as actively religious.

Other religious groups of significant size are Unaffiliated Christians (Protestant, Catholic, etc) (4.1% ), other Orthodox Christians (1.5%).

A quarter of Russians (25%) identified themselves as spiritual but not religious, 13% of Russians identified themselves as Atheists, and 5.5% reported that they were undecided.

Although Russia does not have an official state religion, the Russian Orthodox Church has an increasingly visible and influential role in Russian society and politics. Its growth has been helped by by the introduction of a law in 1997 which limited the ability of other religious organisations (which often come from outside of Russia) to undertake missionary work in Russia.

It is important to note that many of the Russians who identify as religious, and particularly those who identify themselves as Orthodox Christians, are non-observant. This means that they rarely or never attend church.

It is likely that the lack of engagement with religion in Russia is, at least in part, due to the Soviet Union’s legacy of atheism and repression of religion. Marx, and later Lenin, both referred to religion as the “opiate of the masses”, a drug which allowed workers to be exploited by the ruling classes.

During the Soviet era, religion was tolerated to an extent, but very strongly discouraged. In the 1920s church property was seized by the state, thousands of religious people including priests were imprisoned or killed, and publishing religious material and books was made illegal.

Languages

Russian language

There are over 130 languages in use in Russia today, but Russian is the official state language of the Russian Federation. According to the 2010 census, it is the native language of 85.7% of people in Russia, but it is spoken and understood by almost everyone in Russia today.

Other languages in Russia

A number of other languages have legal status in Russian regions. They are:

Because of the high number of immigrants in the Russian Federation, normally from other former Soviet countries, a large number of other languages are also widely spoken in Russia, even if they have no official status. The 2010 census reports the following numbers, although because many migrants are undocumented the real numbers are likely to be much higher:

• Armenian | 830,000
• Azerbaijani | 515,000
• Kazakh | 472,000
• Uzbek | 245,000
• Kyrgyz | 247,000
• Tajik | 177,000
• Georgian | 102,000

Endangered languages in Russia

Many of Russia’s 130 plus languages are spoken primarily in Siberia and Russia’s Far East, but others are found and spoken in the Caucasus, Northern Russia and the Caucasus.

Some languages have already been declared extinct by UNESCO – examples include Arman, Kamas and Karelian. Others are classified as endangered, and at high risk of becoming extinct within a generation or two. These include some regionally recognised languages, such as Kalmyk. Some, such as Ainu or Enets, have less than 100 speakers.

Education and Literacy Rate

Russia has a large and comprehensive network of schools, colleges and universities, and school education in Russia is free. As a result, it has a very high literacy rate of 99.4% (male: 99.7%, female: 99.2%).

According to a 2012 OECD survey more than half of Russian adults (53%) have attained a tertiary (university) education. This is almost double the OECD overage of 32%, although there are questions about the variable quality of Russia’s university education.

Russia spends 4.1% of its GDP on education (2008 figures).

Largest cities in Russia

Most of Russia’s population, and most of its largest cities are in Western and Southern Russia.

Moscow is the most populous city in Russia and the second largest city in Europe (after Istanbul).

Other major cities in Russia (data from 2010 census) include St Petersburg (4.9 million), Novosibirsk (1.5 million) and Yekaterinburg (1.3 million). See the table below for more details.

Population of Moscow 2016

Estimates, based on data from the 2010 census, indicate that in 2016 Moscow has a population of 12.2 million permanent residents. With the addition of an estimated 1.8 million people with official temporary residency, the population rises to 14.0 million.

However, the true population of Moscow is likely to be higher as a result of undocumented and illegal immigration which was not captured in census results. Estimates which include approximately 1 million undocumented migrants push Moscow’s population up to over 15 million.

Cities in Russia by population (table)

According to the latest census, there were 12 Russian cities with a population of more than 1 million people in 2010, and 164 cities with a population of more than 100,000. Here is a table that lists all of the Russian cities with a population of more than 1 million people:

Population Density

Russia has a population density of 22 people per square mile (8.4 per square kilometer).

Russia is the largest country in the world by area, and even though it has Europe’s largest population of nearly 150 million people, they are spread thinly across the country. World Bank data shows that Russia is the 15th least densely populated country in the world.

For comparison, though, it is interesting to see that the Russian Federation is more densely populated than some other major countries such as Canada (4 people per square kilometer) and Australia (3 people per square kilometer).

Siberia is far less densely populated than European Russia, with a density of 8 people per square mile (3 per square kilometer). Some Siberian regions, such as the Koryak Okrug have a population density of less than 0.1 people per kilometer. Or, to put it another way – one person for every ten kilometers.

Urban vs Rural population

Russia is an industrialised economy with a heavily urbanised population. Almost three quarters of Russians (74.0%) live in urban areas, compared to just over one quarter (26.0%) of people who live in rural areas.

In contrast to many countries, where urban populations are increasing as people move from the country to cities, Russia has been de-urbanising in recent years, and the number of people in urban areas compared to rural areas has decreased very slightly over the past 20 years.

Other Russian demographic data

Sex ratio

The sex ratio in Russia at birth is 1.06 males to each female. This is roughly the same as the world average of 1.07 boys to each girl at birth.

However, across the entire population, the proportion of male to female is much lower – 0.86 males to every female.

At the extreme, among elderly Russians – those over 65 years of age – there are three women for every man.

This gap stands in dramatic contrast with the rest of the world, where there are, on average, 1.02 men for every woman. There are two main reasons for this difference.

The first is that Russian men have a much higher than normal mortality rate. As we shall see in the next section, the life expectancy of Russian men is eleven years lower than the life expectancy of Russian women.

The second is that Russia, and other former Soviet countries, are still suffering significantly from the high death toll among men in the second world war. Data from 1950, for example, shows that, for every 100 women in Russia, there were only 76.6 men.

Life expectancy

The average life expectancy in Russia is 71.6 years (2013 data).

However, this hides a massive difference between the life expectancy of Russian men and women. Russian women live for 76.5 years – more than eleven years longer than the average Russian man, who lives for just 65.1 years.

This difference in Russian life expectancy between male and female is the largest in the world. Although women across the world live longer than men on average, they normally live only five years longer.

Experts have not identified a single cause for this massive gap. It is thought to be a combination of factors, including high levels of alcoholism, violence, diet, pollution and poverty. Russia also has one of the highest male suicide rates in the world. It also has one of the world’s highest death rates from cardiovascular disease.

Median Age

The median age in Russia is 39.6 years. As with life expectancy, the median age for Russian men (36.7 years) is much lower than for Russian women (41.6 years).

Birth rate and death rate in Russia

The birth rate is Russia is 13.3 births per 1,000 population. The death rate is 13.1 deaths per 1,000 population. (2013 data).

This indicates that, excluding factors such as migration, Russia is experiencing a period of slow natural population growth.

Fertility rate

The total fertility rate in Russia was 1.750 in 2014.

This is a significant increase on the lowest fertility rate in modern Russian history of 1.157, which was recorded in 1999. This remains lower than the fertility rate of most industrialised countries, where a fertility rate of just over 2.000 is thought necessary to ensure that the population remains static.

Russian population pyramid

This population pyramid of Russia is based on data from 2015.

Two things stand out about the Russian pyramid.

The first is at the top of the pyramid where you can clearly see that the number of women aged over 70 is much higher than the number of men of the same age. This is because of the massive casualty rate among Russian men during WW2.

The second is the relatively low number of children and young people aged under 20. This is largely the result of a significant drop in birth rates after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Historical Russian population data

This table contains historical Russian population data from 1927 to the present day.

Note: no data was available for the years 1941-45 because it was not collected during the war.

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According to official estimates the Rio de Janeiro 2017 population is 6,498,837. This makes Rio, host city of the 2016 Olympic Games, the second largest city in Brazil.

Rio is also the third largest city in South America, the sixth largest city in the Americas and the 41st largest city in the world.

The wider Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan area is home to 12,280,702 people (2015 data).

Rio de Janeiro is the second largest Portuguese speaking city in the world, after São Paulo. (Lisbon, the largest city in Portugal, is only the ninth largest Portuguese speaking city in the world).

Rio de Janeiro State population

The city of Rio de Janeiro is a part of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro.

Rio de Janeiro state is the third most populous state in Brazil, after São Paulo state and Minas Gerais. In 2014 it’s estimated population was 16,461,173 people.

Rio de Janeiro population growth

Rio de Janeiro was founded in 1565 by Portuguese settlers. (A French colony which had been founded in the area in 1555 was destroyed by Portuguese troops in 1560).

In its early years, the population of Rio de Janeiro grew slowly. By 1749, almost two centuries after it had been founded, Rio’s population had grown to just 24,000 people.

However increased immigration from Europe in the 18th and 19th century boosted the city’s population dramatically. Rio was so important to Portugal and so secure that when Napoleon invaded Portugal in 1807, the Portuguese royal family moved to Rio and set up their new capital in the city.

By 1821, just before the Brazilian War of Independence, Rio was home to 113,000 people. The city continued to grow rapidly and by 1872 its population had grown to 274,972 people.

The city’s population hit the milestone of 1 million people early in the 20th century. Subsequent growth was so speedy that, by the end of the 20th century, Rio had grown to accommodate 5.8 million people.

Latest estimates from the IBGE show that the population reached 6,498,837 in 2016.

The table below shows the population of Rio de Janeiro city over the past century.

Rio de Janiero population density

Based on its population in 2007 of 6,093,472, Rio de Janeiro’s population density is 12,383 people per square mile.

Rio de Janiero ethnicity

In the Brazilian census, the government divides the population into five different racial and ethnic groups. These groups are White, Pardo (multiracial), Black, Asian and Amerindian.

At the time of the 2010 Brazilian census largest single ethnicity in Rio was White, with 51.2% of the population. Other major groups are Pardo (36.5%) and Black (11.5%). A further 0.7% of the population is Asian and 0.1% of the population is Amerindian.

Rio de Janiero religion

According to the 2010 census, Christians make up the largest religious group in Rio de Janeiro. In total 74.46% of the population reported that they were either Catholic or Protestant. Catholics made up 51.09% of the population, while Protestants made up a further 23.37%.

A further 5.90% of people reported that their religion was Spiritist, 1.29% reported that their religion was Umbanda or Candomblé, and 0.34% reported that they were Jewish.

A total of 13.59% of people reported that they were not religious.

Rio de Janeiro economy

Rio has, after São Paulo, one of the strongest economies in Brazil. In 2008 Rio de Janeiro’s GDP was reported to be $201 billion. This makes it the fourth largest city economy in Latin America, after Mexico City, São Paulo, Buenos Aires.

Although the city of Rio makes up only about one third of the population of the state of Rio de Janeiro, as of 2017 it generates three quarters of the state’s GDP.