Can I share this graphic? Yes. Visualizations are free to share and post in their original form across the web—even for publishers. Please link back to this page and attribute Visual Capitalist.
When do I need a license? Licenses are required for some commercial uses, translations, or layout modifications. You can even whitelabel our visualizations. Explore your options.
Interested in this piece? Click here to license this visualization.
The Population of India’s States Compared with Countries
In a world with eight billion people, even the numbers of the largest population centers like China and India can start to lose their impact.
The visualization above looks to give people a different frame of reference to think about the country’s massive population figures.
The Population Breakdown
Similar to other big countries, the gap between India’s largest and smallest states is quite wide.
Uttar Pradesh is the most populous country subdivision in the world at 232 million people, while Sikkim, in the northeast of the country, is the least populated state in India (0.7 million).
Here are India’s 28 states and 8 union territories compared to other countries and territories with comparable sizes:
State
Population (2022)
Country
Population (2022)
Uttar Pradesh
232M
🇧🇷 Brazil + 🇪🇨 Ecuador
234M
Bihar
129M
🇲🇽 Mexico
132M
Maharashtra
125M
🇯🇵 Japan
126M
West Bengal
101M
🇪🇬 Egypt
107M
Madhya Pradesh
85M
🇹🇷 Turkey
87M
Tamil Nadu
84M
🇩🇪 Germany
84M
Rajasthan
80M
🇺🇦 Ukraine + 🇵🇱 Poland
81M
Gujarat
70M
🇹🇭 Thailand
70M
Karnataka
70M
🇬🇧 UK
69M
Andhra Pradesh
54M
🇲🇲 Myanmar
55M
Odisha
47M
🇪🇸 Spain
47M
Jharkhand
40M
🇮🇶 Iraq
42M
Telangana
38M
🇲🇾 Malaysia + 🇸🇬 Singapore
39M
Assam
36M
🇨🇦 Canada
39M
Kerala
35M
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
36M
Chhattisgarh
32M
🇵🇪 Peru
34M
Punjab
31M
🇦🇺 Australia + 🇳🇿 New Zealand
31M
Haryana
29M
🇻🇪 Venezuela
28M
Delhi
19M
🇷🇴 Romania
19M
Jammu and Kashmir
15M
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
15M
Uttarakhand
12M
🇧🇴 Bolivia
12M
Himachal Pradesh
7.5M
🇭🇰 Hong Kong
7.6M
Tripura
4.2M
🇭🇷 Croatia
4.0M
Meghalaya
3.8M
🇪🇷 Eritrea
3.7M
Manipur
3.4M
🇺🇾 Uruguay
3.5M
Nagaland
2.1M
🇸🇮 Slovenia
2.1M
Puducherry
1.6M
🇧🇭 Bahrain
1.8M
Arunachal Pradesh
1.7M
🇱🇻 Latvia
1.8M
Goa
1.5M
🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea
1.5M
Mizoram
1.3M
🇪🇪 Estonia
1.3M
Chandigarh
1.2M
🇨🇾 Cyprus
1.3M
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
& Daman and Diu
0.8M
🇬🇾 Guyana
0.8M
Sikkim
0.7M
🇲🇴 Macao
0.7M
Andaman & Nicobar Islands
0.4M
🇧🇸 Bahamas
0.4M
Lakshadweep
0.07M
🇰🇾 Cayman Islands
0.07M
Hypothetically, if India’s states were to all became countries today, they would take up half the spots in a ranking of the world’s top 20 most populous countries.
A number of Indian states match up evenly against some very large countries, including Maharashtra (Japan), West Bengal (Egypt), and Tamil Nadu (Germany). Of course, the largest is Uttar Pradesh (Brazil+Chile), which also happens to measure up to neighboring Pakistan.
For people living in countries such as Canada or Australia, it may be humbling to know that these countries are equal to a smallish Indian state.
The Big Get Bigger
According to United Nations projections, India is on track to become the most populous country in the world in 2023.
The population of India’s growth is fueled by several factors, including declining mortality rates, increased life expectancy, and high birth rates. While India’s population growth has slowed in recent years due to factors such as urbanization and increasing access to contraception, the country’s population is still expected to continue growing at a significant rate for the foreseeable future.
Where does this data come from?
Source: Population projections for India are from indiacensus.net. Population figures for comparison countries are from the UN’s World Population Prospects: The 2019 Revision (medium-fertility variant), accessed via Worldometers‘ live tracker. All population figures shown are 2022 projections.
Data note: Because there are only so many countries, the populations of comparison countries may not perfectly match that of the various Indian states and union territories. Numbers are rounded.
Map note: A number of borders and regions in India are disputed with other countries. Our depiction of borders is a good faith, apolitical attempt at reflecting the “de facto” situation in each region.