List of countries by population in 1500

Historical demographics
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List of countries by population
1000	1500	1600

This is a list of countries by population in 1500. Estimate numbers are from the beginning of the year, and exact population figures are for countries that held a census on various dates in that year. The bulk of these numbers are sourced from Alexander V. Avakov's Two Thousand Years of Economic Statistics, Volume 1, pages 12 to 14, which cover population figures from the year 1500 divided into modern borders. Avakov, in turn, cites a variety of sources, mostly Angus Maddison.^[1]

[1]

Rank	Country/Territory	Population c. 1500 estimate	Percentage of world population
–	World ^[2]	438,000,000	–
1	Ming China^[3]^[4] Subdivisions Liaodong Regional Military Commission – ? Dokham Regional Military Commission – ? Hami Prefecture – ? Sichuan Province Tusi – ? Guizhou Province Tusi – ? Guangxi Province Tusi – ? Yunnan Province Tusi – ? Chinese Shan States – ?	60,000,000–103,000,000	23.5%
2	Delhi Sultanate Lodi dynasty	~55,000,000	~12.6%
3	Holy Roman Empire^[5] Subdivisions Habsburg Netherlands – 2,400,000+^[6] Bohemian Crown – 2,160,000 Archduchy of Austria and related territories – 2,000,000 Duchy of Milan – 1,250,000 Savoy – ? Republic of Florence – 750,000 Republic of the Swiss^[7] – 745,000 Duchy of Bavaria – ~400,000^[8] Duchy of Württemberg – ~350,000^[9] Margraviate of Brandenburg – ~300,000^[10] Saxony – ? Margraviate of Baden – ? Thuringian states – ? Duchy of Carniola – 208,000^[11] Landgraviate of Hesse – ? Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin – ? County of Nassau – ? Bishopric of Würzburg – ? County of Oldenburg – ? Duchy of Luxemburg – ? Vogtland – ? Principality of Lippe – ? Mecklenburg – ? Anhalt-Dessau – ? Prince-Bishopric of Münster – ? Anhalt-Dessau – ? Anhalt-Köthen – ? County of Schaumburg – ? Liechtenstein – ? Archbishopric of Salzburg- ? Principality of Calenberg – ? Electorate of Mainz – ? Electorate of Trier – ? Electorate of Cologne – ? Electoral Palatinate – ? Duchy of Brunswick-Luneburg – ? Saxe-Lauenburg – ? Archbishopric of Magdeburg – ? Hamburg – ? Lübeck – ? Schleswig – ? Holstein – ? Bishopric of Lübeck – ? Bishopric of Trent – ? East Frisia – ? Duchy of Pomerania – ? Episcopal principality of Utrecht – ? Principality of Ansbach – ? Mixed Imperial City of Augsburg – ? Duchy of Cleves – ? Guelders – ? Prince-Bishopric of Liège – ?	23,000,000+	5.3%
4	Vijayanagara Empire^[12]	18,000,000^[13]	4.1%
5	France and possessions Subdivisions Kingdom of France^[14] – 15,000,000 Duchy of Milan^[14] – 1,250,000 Andorra – ?	16,250,000	3.7%
6	Ottoman Empire^[15]^[16] Subdivisions Anatolia and East Thrace – 6,300,000 Serbia – 990,000 Bulgaria – 800,000 Bosnia Eyalet – 367,000 Albania – 200,000 Vassal states Principality of Wallachia – 350,000^[17] Crimean Khanate - 2,740,000	12,640,000	2.8%
7	Inca Empire^[18]^[19]	12-32,000,000	−4.6%
8	Bengal Sultanate^[20]	10,526,000	2.4%
9	Ashikaga Japan^[21]	9,800,000	2.2%
10	Joseon^[22]	9,100,000-9,700,000 9,412,000	2.1%
11	Spain and possessions Subdivisions Crown of Castile^[23] – 7,000,000 Crown of Aragon^[14] - 950,000 Kingdom of Sicily^[7] – 600,000 Andorra – ? Santo Domingo – 139,000^[24]	8,900,000	2.0%
12	Polish–Lithuanian Union^[25] Subdivisions Kingdom of Poland^[26] – 3,900,000 Grand Duchy of Lithuania – ? State of the Teutonic Order – ?	7,500,000	1.7%
13	Grand Duchy of Moscow^[27]	6,000,000	1.4%
14	Aztec Empire^[19]	6,000,000	1.4%
15	Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt^[28]^[20] Subdivisions Mamluk Egypt – 4,000,000 Syria – 1,206,000 Palestine – 366,000 Lebanon – 299,000 Jordan – 196,000 Hejaz – ? Libya – ?	5,867,000	1.3%
16	Lê dynasty (Đại Việt)^[29]	5,625,400	1.3%
17	Aq Qoyunlu Iran^[30]	~4,000,000	0.9%
18	Majapahit Empire^[31]^[a]	Less than 4,000,000	0.9%
19	Union of Kingdom of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia^[32]^[33] \| Kingdom of Hungary \| Kingdom of Croatia, without medieval Slavonia	3,000,000^[34]^{[failed verification]} 500,000^[35]	0.9%*
20	Morocco Wattasid dynasty	3,500,000	0.8%
21	Portugal and possessions Subdivisions Kingdom of Portugal – 3,000,000 Ceuta – ? Ksar es-Seghir – ? Asilah – ? El Jadida – ? Portuguese Tangier – ? Ouadane – ? Safi – ? Graciosa fortress – ? Arguin – ? Portuguese Cape Verde – ? São Tomé Island – ? Príncipe – ? Annobón – ? Bioko – ? Elmina – ? Portuguese Gold Coast – ? Lakshadweep – ? Madeira – ? Azores – ?	3,000,000+	0.7%+
22	Northern Yuan^[36]	~2,760,000	0.6%
23	England and possessions Subdivisions Kingdom of England^[7] – 2,100,000 Lordship of Ireland^[37]^[38] – 250,000 ^[b] Wales^[7] – 400,000 Pale of Calais – ?	2,750,000	0.6%
24	Champa^[39]	2,500,000^[c]	0.6%
25	Ayutthaya Kingdom (Siam)^[20]	2,000,000	0.5%
26	Muisca Confederation^[40]	2,000,000	0.5%
27	Papal States^[14]	2,000,000	0.5%
28	Ethiopian Empire^[20]	1,870,000	0.4%
29	Kalmar Union^[22] Subdivisions Kingdom of Denmark – 600,000 Kingdom of Sweden – 550,000 Kingdom of Norway^[7] – 240,000 Finland – 300,000 Iceland- ? Greenland – ?	1,690,000	0.4%
30	Republic of Venice^[14] Subdivisions Venetian Italy – ? Venetian Dalmatia – ? Istria – ? Venetian Albania – ? Tinos – ? Kingdom of Candia – ? Duchy of the Archipelago Ionian Islands under Venetian rule – ? Venetian Cyprus – ?	1,500,000	0.3%
31	Kingdom of Tlemcen	1,500,000	0.3%
32	Cambodia^[20]	1,224,000	0.3%
33	Hafsid dynasty	800,000	0.2%
34	Republic of Florence^[14]	750,000	0.2%
35	Kingdom of Scotland^[41]	500,000	0.1%
36	Lan Xang^[42]	400,000	0.1%
37	Principality of Moldavia^[17]	400,000	0.1%
38	Malacca Sultanate^[12]^[d]	135,000	0.03%
38	Republic of Ragusa^[43]	90,000	0.02%
39	Nan Madol (Saudeleur dynasty)	25,000^[44]	0.004%

v t e Lists of countries by population statistics
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List of countries by population in 1500

See also

Notes

References

Sources

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