Biggest Countries in the World by Population (in 2021)

One thing that our tutors here at Justlearn have noticed is the fact that a lot of people choose their language based upon the size of the country. This makes sense. After all, the larger the country, the more people there will be that speak a language and the more people you can interact with.

On this page, we are going to talk about the biggest countries in the world.

We are going to purely base this information upon the population of each of the countries. This is because most people will probably want the greatest number of speakers to interact with. This is because while Canada and Russia are the largest countries in the world in terms of area covered, they have newer people to interact with.

This probably isn't so much of an issue with Canada due to English and French being the languages spoken, but it is an issue with Russia where the only people you would be able to interact with are Russians.

China

With 1.3-billion inhabitants, China is by far one of the biggest countries in the world.

While there are various languages spoken throughout China, if you want to communicate with the majority of the population, then Mandarin is the route to go down. However, do bear in mind that it can be one of the more difficult languages to learn. Although, that being said, there are so many Mandarin speakers that it is worth it.

India

India isn't too far behind China on the population front. However, languages are a little bit more complex here. Wherever you go in the country, it is like you will have to learn another language.

Hindi is probably the best bet if you want to communicate with the majority of Indians. However, due to their history, English is a language that can also get you quite far. It is one of the official languages of the country, after all.

United States

The United States has just a third of the population of India, but it is up there with the most populated countries in the world. The main language is English, of course. However, Spanish will also be able to get you quite far in many areas of the country.

Indonesia

Just 100-million residents behind the United States is Indonesia. If you want to communicate with close to 100% of the population, then go with Indonesia. However, just like India, each part of the country will have its own language. However, Indonesian is the way to go most of the time. 

Pakistan

Next up on the list of the largest countries in the world by population in Pakistan. Their official language is Urdu, but there may be small amounts of overlap with India due to the history of Pakistan. 

And More...

The final countries you will probably want to know about are:

• Nigeria where the main language is English

• Brazil where the language is Portuguese

• Bangladesh for Bengali 

• Russia for Russian

• Mexico for Spanish

Of course, don't just focus on the population of the country. Russian may be one of the largest countries by population, but Russian won't get you very far outside of Russia. Spanish would get you far outside of Mexico (it is the second most-spoken language in the world), and English will help in the majority of countries for easy communication.