Peoples celebrate World Population Day every year on July 11th. This day is a day to raise awareness of the world’s population issues and to raise awareness about family planning, gender equality, and reproductive health. The world’s population has increased from an estimated 2.5 billion in 1950 to 8 billion as of mid-November 2022. One billion people have been added since 2010 and two billion since 1998.
No theme has been announced this year, but last year’s theme was “Unleashing the power of gender equality: Uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world’s infinite possibilities”.
While the focus has always been on the world’s most populous countries, it is important to look at the least populous countries in the world this time. Here are the five least populous countries.
1. Vatican City:
The population of Vatican City will be 526 in 2024, with a growth rate of 1.54 percent. Citizenship of the Vatican requires the Pope’s approval, but since Vatican City does not have a hospital, citizenship by birth or blood is not available.
2) Tuvalu:
Tuvalu’s population will be 11,478 in 2024, with a growth rate of 0.72. Tuvalu is a small island nation consisting of small atolls and coral islands. Life expectancy here is just 60 years at birth, and family planning has slowed population growth. Over 10 percent of the population lives abroad, either in education, Nauru’s phosphate industry, or on the merchant ships.
3) Nauru:
Nauru is a small island state in Micronesia, northeast of Australia. It is a poor country, with a population density of 554 people per square kilometre and a life expectancy of 63.9 years. Nauru’s demographic history has been marked by multiple migrations, and the government has repatriated several groups of non-Nauruans as recently as the 2000s.
4) Palau:
The population in 2024 will be 18,051, with a growth rate of -0.04. Palau’s population has been declining since 2005 due to a declining birth rate and emigration. However, there is a large immigration to Palau.
5) San Marino:
The population of this mountain state surrounded by central and northern Italy is 33,614 this year. The growth rate is also minus 0.08%. However, most of the country is urban, with almost two-thirds of San Marino’s population living in its three largest cities.