It is estimated that the Second World War was responsible for the deaths of approximately 3.76 percent of the world's population between 1939 and 1945. In 2022, where the world's population reached eight billion, this would be equal to the death of around 300 million people.

The region that experienced the largest loss of life relative to its population was the South Seas Mandate - these were former-German territories given to the Empire of Japan through the Treaty of Versailles following WWI, and they make up much of the present-day countries of the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the Northern Mariana Islands (U.S. territory), and Palau. Due to the location and strategic importance of these islands, they were used by the Japanese as launching pads for their attacks on Pearl Harbor and in the South Pacific, while they were also taken as part of the Allies' island-hopping strategy in their counteroffensive against Japan. This came at a heavy cost for the local populations, a large share of whom were Japanese settlers who had moved there in the 1920s and 1930s. Exact figures for both pre-war populations and wartime losses fluctuate by source, however civilian losses in these islands were extremely high as the Japanese defenses resorted to more extreme measures in the war's final phase.

In 1938, the year before the outbreak of the Second world War, the countries with the largest populations were China, the Soviet Union, and the United States, although the United Kingdom had the largest overall population when it's colonies, dominions, and metropole are combined. Alongside France, these were the five Allied "Great Powers" that emerged victorious from the Second World War. The Axis Powers in the war were led by Germany and Japan in their respective theaters, and their smaller populations were decisive factors in their defeat. Manpower as a resource In the context of the Second World War, a country or territory's population played a vital role in its ability to wage war on such a large scale. Not only were armies able to call upon their people to fight in the war and replenish their forces, but war economies were also dependent on their workforce being able to meet the agricultural, manufacturing, and logistical demands of the war. For the Axis powers, invasions and the annexation of territories were often motivated by the fact that it granted access to valuable resources that would further their own war effort - millions of people living in occupied territories were then forced to gather these resources, or forcibly transported to work in manufacturing in other Axis territories. Similarly, colonial powers were able to use resources taken from their territories to supply their armies, however this often had devastating consequences for the regions from which food was redirected, contributing to numerous food shortages and famines across Africa, Asia, and Europe. Men from annexed or colonized territories were also used in the armies of the war's Great Powers, and in the Axis armies especially. This meant that soldiers often fought alongside their former-enemies. Aftermath The Second World War was the costliest in human history, resulting in the deaths of between 70 and 85 million people. Due to the turmoil and destruction of the war, accurate records for death tolls generally do not exist, therefore pre-war populations (in combination with other statistics), are used to estimate death tolls. The Soviet Union is believed to have lost the largest amount of people during the war, suffering approximately 24 million fatalities by 1945, followed by China at around 20 million people. The Soviet death toll is equal to approximately 14 percent of its pre-war population - the countries with the highest relative death tolls in the war are found in Eastern Europe, due to the intensity of the conflict and the systematic genocide committed in the region during the war.

The world's population first reached one billion people in 1805, and reached eight billion in 2022, and will peak at almost 10.2 billion by the end of the century. Although it took thousands of years to reach one billion people, it did so at the beginning of a phenomenon known as the demographic transition; from this point onwards, population growth has skyrocketed, and since the 1960s the population has increased by one billion people every 12 to 15 years. The demographic transition sees a sharp drop in mortality due to factors such as vaccination, sanitation, and improved food supply; the population boom that follows is due to increased survival rates among children and higher life expectancy among the general population; and fertility then drops in response to this population growth. Regional differences The demographic transition is a global phenomenon, but it has taken place at different times across the world. The industrialized countries of Europe and North America were the first to go through this process, followed by some states in the Western Pacific. Latin America's population then began growing at the turn of the 20th century, but the most significant period of global population growth occurred as Asia progressed in the late-1900s. As of the early 21st century, almost two-thirds of the world's population lives in Asia, although this is set to change significantly in the coming decades. Future growth The growth of Africa's population, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, will have the largest impact on global demographics in this century. From 2000 to 2100, it is expected that Africa's population will have increased by a factor of almost five. It overtook Europe in size in the late 1990s, and overtook the Americas a few years later. In contrast to Africa, Europe's population is now in decline, as birth rates are consistently below death rates in many countries, especially in the south and east, resulting in natural population decline. Similarly, the population of the Americas and Asia are expected to go into decline in the second half of this century, and only Oceania's population will still be growing alongside Africa. By 2100, the world's population will have over three billion more than today, with the vast majority of this concentrated in Africa. Demographers predict that climate change is exacerbating many of the challenges that currently hinder progress in Africa, such as political and food instability; if Africa's transition is prolonged, then it may result in further population growth that would place a strain on the region's resources, however, curbing this growth earlier would alleviate some of the pressure created by climate change.

This dataset is extracted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_in_1939. Context: There s a story behind every dataset and heres your opportunity to share yours.Content: What s inside is more than just rows and columns. Make it easy for others to get started by describing how you acquired the data and what time period it represents, too. Acknowledgements:We wouldn t be here without the help of others. If you owe any attributions or thanks, include them here along with any citations of past research.Inspiration: Your data will be in front of the world s largest data science community. What questions do you want to see answered?

In 1800, the region of Germany was not a single, unified nation, but a collection of decentralized, independent states, bound together as part of the Holy Roman Empire. This empire was dissolved, however, in 1806, during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras in Europe, and the German Confederation was established in 1815. Napoleonic reforms led to the abolition of serfdom, extension of voting rights to property-owners, and an overall increase in living standards. The population grew throughout the remainder of the century, as improvements in sanitation and medicine (namely, mandatory vaccination policies) saw child mortality rates fall in later decades. As Germany industrialized and the economy grew, so too did the argument for nationhood; calls for pan-Germanism (the unification of all German-speaking lands) grew more popular among the lower classes in the mid-1800s, especially following the revolutions of 1948-49. In contrast, industrialization and poor harvests also saw high unemployment in rural regions, which led to waves of mass migration, particularly to the U.S.. In 1886, the Austro-Prussian War united northern Germany under a new Confederation, while the remaining German states (excluding Austria and Switzerland) joined following the Franco-Prussian War in 1871; this established the German Empire, under the Prussian leadership of Emperor Wilhelm I and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. 1871 to 1945 - Unification to the Second World War The first decades of unification saw Germany rise to become one of Europe's strongest and most advanced nations, and challenge other world powers on an international scale, establishing colonies in Africa and the Pacific. These endeavors were cut short, however, when the Austro-Hungarian heir apparent was assassinated in Sarajevo; Germany promised a "blank check" of support for Austria's retaliation, who subsequently declared war on Serbia and set the First World War in motion. Viewed as the strongest of the Central Powers, Germany mobilized over 11 million men throughout the war, and its army fought in all theaters. As the war progressed, both the military and civilian populations grew increasingly weakened due to malnutrition, as Germany's resources became stretched. By the war's end in 1918, Germany suffered over 2 million civilian and military deaths due to conflict, and several hundred thousand more during the accompanying influenza pandemic. Mass displacement and the restructuring of Europe's borders through the Treaty of Versailles saw the population drop by several million more.

Reparations and economic mismanagement also financially crippled Germany and led to bitter indignation among many Germans in the interwar period; something that was exploited by Adolf Hitler on his rise to power. Reckless printing of money caused hyperinflation in 1923, when the currency became so worthless that basic items were priced at trillions of Marks; the introduction of the Rentenmark then stabilized the economy before the Great Depression of 1929 sent it back into dramatic decline. When Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, the Nazi government disregarded the Treaty of Versailles' restrictions and Germany rose once more to become an emerging superpower. Hitler's desire for territorial expansion into eastern Europe and the creation of an ethnically-homogenous German empire then led to the invasion of Poland in 1939, which is considered the beginning of the Second World War in Europe. Again, almost every aspect of German life contributed to the war effort, and more than 13 million men were mobilized. After six years of war, and over seven million German deaths, the Axis powers were defeated and Germany was divided into four zones administered by France, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the U.S.. Mass displacement, shifting borders, and the relocation of peoples based on ethnicity also greatly affected the population during this time. 1945 to 2020 - Partition and Reunification In the late 1940s, cold war tensions led to two distinct states emerging in Germany; the Soviet-controlled east became the communist German Democratic Republic (DDR), and the three western zones merged to form the democratic Federal Republic of Germany. Additionally, Berlin was split in a similar fashion, although its location deep inside DDR territory created series of problems and opportunities for the those on either side. Life quickly changed depending on which side of the border one lived. Within a decade, rapid economic recovery saw West Germany become western Europe's strongest economy and a key international player. In the east, living standards were much lower, although unemployment was almost non-existent; internationally, East Germany was the strongest economy in the Eastern Bloc (after the USSR), though it eventually fell behind the West by the 1970s. The restriction of movement between the two states also led to labor shortages in t...

This dataset contains data on population movement (population, marriages, births, deaths, infant deaths (under 1 year), natural increase of population) in Latvia in 1919-1939. Data on the number of population (male, female, total) were used from the dataset “Number of Population in Counties in Latvia, 1919-1939”. For sources of the data see metadata field Origin of Sources below. Dataset "Population Movement in Latvia, 1919-1939" was published implementing project "Historical Sociology of Modern Restorations: a Cross-Time Comparative Study of Post-Communist Transformation in the Baltic States" from 2018 to 2022. Project leader is prof. Zenonas Norkus. Project is funded by the European Social Fund according to the activity "Improvement of researchers' qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects' of Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712".

This dataset contains data on number of natural increase of population in Latvia in 1919-1939. Dataset "Natural Increase of Population (N) in Latvia, 1919-1939" was published implementing project "Historical Sociology of Modern Restorations: a Cross-Time Comparative Study of Post-Communist Transformation in the Baltic States" from 2018 to 2022. Project leader is prof. Zenonas Norkus. Project is funded by the European Social Fund according to the activity "Improvement of researchers' qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects' of Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712".

This dataset contains data on population of cities and towns in Lithuania (within interwar and contemporary borders) in 1897-1939. Dataset "Population of Cities and Towns in Lithuania (within Interwar and Contemporary Borders), 1897-1939" was published implementing project "Historical Sociology of Modern Restorations: a Cross-Time Comparative Study of Post-Communist Transformation in the Baltic States" from 2018 to 2022. Project leader is prof. Zenonas Norkus. Project is funded by the European Social Fund according to the activity "Improvement of researchers' qualification by implementing world-class R&ampD projects' of Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712".

The Holocaust was the systematic extermination of Europe's Jewish population in the Second World War, during which time, up to six million Jews were murdered as part of Nazi Germany's "Final Solution to the Jewish Question". In the context of the Second World War, the term "Holocaust" is traditionally used to reference the genocide of Europe's Jews, although this coincided with the Nazi regime's genocide and ethnic cleansing of an additional eleven million people deemed "undesirable" due to their ethnicity, beliefs, disability or sexuality (among others). During the Holocaust, Poland's Jewish population suffered the largest number of fatalities, with approximately three million deaths. Additionally, at least one million Jews were murdered in the Soviet Union, while Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Yugoslavia also lost the majority of their respective pre-war Jewish populations. The Holocaust in Poland In the interwar period, Europe's Jewish population was concentrated in the east, with roughly one third living in Poland; this can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when thousands of Jews flocked to Eastern Europe to escape persecution. At the outbreak of the Second World War, it is estimated that there were 3.4 million Jews living in Poland, which was approximately ten percent of the total population. Following the German invasion of Poland, Nazi authorities then segregated Jews in ghettos across most large towns and cities, and expanded their network of concentration camps throughout the country. In the ghettos, civilians were deprived of food, and hundreds of thousands died due to disease and starvation; while prison labor was implemented under extreme conditions in concentration camps to fuel the German war effort. In Poland, six extermination camps were also operational between December 1941 and January 1945, which saw the mass extermination of approximately 2.7 million people over the next three years (including many non-Poles, imported from other regions of Europe). While concentration camps housed prisoners of all backgrounds, extermination camps were purpose-built for the elimination of the Jewish race, and over 90% of their victims were Jewish. The majority of the victims in these extermination camps were executed by poison gas, although disease, starvation and overworking were also common causes of death. In addition to the camps and ghettos, SS death squads (Einsatzgruppen) and local collaborators also committed widespread atrocities across Eastern Europe. While the majority of these atrocities took place in the Balkan, Baltic and Soviet regions, they were still prevalent in Poland (particularly during the liquidation of the ghettos), and the Einsatzgruppen alone are estimated to have killed up to 1.3 million Jews throughout the Holocaust. By early 1945, Soviet forces had largely expelled the German armies from Poland and liberated the concentration and extermination camps; by this time, Poland had lost roughly ninety percent of its pre-war Jewish population, and suffered approximately three million further civilian and military deaths. By 1991, Poland's Jewish population was estimated to be just 15 thousand people, while there were fewer than two thousand Jews recorded as living in Poland in 2018.

Sources: Publications of the Federal Statistical Office, scientific publications

This dataset contains data on population of cities and towns in Latvia (within interwar borders) in 1897-1939. Dataset "Population of Cities and Towns in Latvia (within Interwar Borders), 1897-1939" was published implementing project "Historical Sociology of Modern Restorations: a Cross-Time Comparative Study of Post-Communist Transformation in the Baltic States" from 2018 to 2022. Project leader is prof. Zenonas Norkus. Project is funded by the European Social Fund according to the activity "Improvement of researchers' qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects' of Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712".

This dataset contains data on natural increase rate of population (per 1000 population) in Latvia in 1919-1939. Data in the cells (year by administrative region) were computed by multiplying the number of natural increase of population by 1000 and dividing by number of the mid-year population. For sources of the data see metadata field Origin of Sources below. Dataset "Rate of Natural Increase of Population (per 1000 Population) in Latvia, 1919-1939" was published implementing project "Historical Sociology of Modern Restorations: a Cross-Time Comparative Study of Post-Communist Transformation in the Baltic States" from 2018 to 2022. Project leader is prof. Zenonas Norkus. Project is funded by the European Social Fund according to the activity "Improvement of researchers' qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects' of Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712".

During the Second World War, the three Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Finland mobilized the largest share of their male population. For the Allies, the Soviet Union mobilized the largest share of men, as well as the largest total army of any country, but it was restricted in its ability to mobilize more due to the impact this would have on its economy. Other notable statistics come from the British Empire, where a larger share of men were drafted from Dominions than from the metropole, and there is also a discrepancy between the share of the black and white populations from South Africa.

However, it should be noted that there were many external factors from the war that influenced these figures. For example, gender ratios among the adult populations of many European countries was already skewed due to previous conflicts of the 20th century (namely WWI and the Russian Revolution), whereas the share of the male population eligible to fight in many Asian and African countries was lower than more demographically developed societies, as high child mortality rates meant that the average age of the population was much lower.

This dataset contains two data tables on number of population in counties in Latvia in 1919-1939. In the data table LiDA_HistatData_0245_Data_0001_v2 data of number of male, female and total in the cells (1920-1924, 1931, 1936-1939 by administrative region) is computed by interpolating data published in Latvian statistical publications (a more detailed description of is provided in the document LiDA_HistatData_0245_Interpolation_0001_v1.pdf). The data table LiDA_HistatData_0245_Data_0002_v1 of the mid-year population data is computed by interpolated population data. Mid-year population data is arithmetic mean of the population of two consecutive years (data of beginning or end of the year) (a more detailed description of is provided in the document LiDA_HistatData_0245_Interpolation_0002_v1.pdf). The aim of such an computation was to have standardized data for the mid-year population data. Dataset "Number of Population in Counties in Latvia, 1919-1939" was published implementing project "Historical Sociology of Modern Restorations: a Cross-Time Comparative Study of Post-Communist Transformation in the Baltic States" from 2018 to 2022. Project leader is prof. Zenonas Norkus. Project is funded by the European Social Fund according to the activity "Improvement of researchers' qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects' of Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712".

This dataset contains data on number of natural increase of population in Lithuania in 1919-1939. Data in the cells (year by administrative region) were computed as the difference of numbers of births and deaths. For sources of the data see metadata field Origin of Sources below. Dataset "Natural Increase of Population (N) in Lithuania, 1919-1939" was published implementing project "Historical Sociology of Modern Restorations: a Cross-Time Comparative Study of Post-Communist Transformation in the Baltic States" from 2018 to 2022. Project leader is prof. Zenonas Norkus. Project is funded by the European Social Fund according to the activity "Improvement of researchers' qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects' of Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712".

Russian estimates suggest that the total population of the Soviet Union in 1941 was 195.4 million people, before it fell to 170.5 million in 1946 due to the devastation of the Second World War. Not only did the USSR's population fall as a consequence of the war, but fertility and birth rates also dropped due to the disruption. Hypothetical estimates suggest that, had the war not happened and had fertility rates remained on their pre-war trajectory, then the USSR's population in 1946 would have been 39 million higher than in reality. Gender differences When it comes to gender differences, the Soviet male population fell from 94 million in 1941, to 74 million in 1946, and the female population fell from 102 to 96 million. While the male and female population fell by 19 and 5.5 million respectively, hypothetical estimates suggest that both populations would have grown by seven million each had there been no war. In actual figures, adult males saw the largest change in population due to the war, as a drop of 18 to 21 percent was observed across the three age groups. In contrast, the adult female population actually grew between 1941 and 1946, although the population under 16 years fell by a number similar to that observed in the male population due to the war's impact on fertility.

This dataset contains two data tables on number of population in counties in Estonia in 1919-1939. The data table LiDA_HistatData_0246_Data_0001_5v is computed by interpolating and extrapolating data published in Estonian statistical publications. The method of interpolation and extrapolation was used because the full data on the population of Estonia by county in statistical publications are available only from the Estonian population censuses conducted in 1922-12-28 and 1934-03-01. The data table LiDA_HistatData_0246_Data_0002_v4 of the mid-year population data is computed by interpolated and extrapolated population data (for a more detailed description, see metadata Social Science and Humanities Metadata field Notes below). Mid-year population data is arithmetic mean of the population of two consecutive years (data of beginning or end of the year). The aim of such an computation was to have standardized data for the mid-year population data. Dataset "Number of Population in Counties in Estonia, 1919-1939" was published implementing project "Historical Sociology of Modern Restorations: a Cross-Time Comparative Study of Post-Communist Transformation in the Baltic States" from 2018 to 2022. Project leader is prof. Zenonas Norkus. Project is funded by the European Social Fund according to the activity "Improvement of researchers' qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects' of Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712".

This dataset contains data of birth rate (births without stillbirths) per year (per 1000 population) in Estonia in 1919-1939. Data in the cells (year by administrative region) were computed by multiplying the number of births by 1000 and dividing by number of the mid-year population. For sources of the data see metadata field Origin of Sources below. Dataset "Birth Rate (per 1000 Population) in Estonia, 1919-1939" was published implementing project "Historical Sociology of Modern Restorations: a Cross-Time Comparative Study of Post-Communist Transformation in the Baltic States" from 2018 to 2022. Project leader is prof. Zenonas Norkus. Project is funded by the European Social Fund according to the activity "Improvement of researchers' qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects' of Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712".

This dataset contains data on natural increase rate of population (per 1000 population) in Estonia in 1919-1939. Data in the cells (year by administrative region) were computed by multiplying the number of natural increase of population by 1000 and dividing by number of the mid-year population. For sources of the data see metadata field Origin of Sources below. Dataset "Rate of Natural Increase of Population (per 1000 Population) in Estonia, 1919-1939" was published implementing project "Historical Sociology of Modern Restorations: a Cross-Time Comparative Study of Post-Communist Transformation in the Baltic States" from 2018 to 2022. Project leader is prof. Zenonas Norkus. Project is funded by the European Social Fund according to the activity "Improvement of researchers' qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects' of Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712".

This graph shows the total population of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the years between 1922 and 1935, as well as the total number of males and females. After the First World War the Baltic states began claiming their independence from tsarist Russia, as the events of the Russian Revolution took place. Inter-war Estonia The Estonian War of Independence from 1918 to 1920 led to the country's first period of independence, until it became occupied by the Soviet Union again in 1940 during the Second World War. After Estonia gained independence the country experienced a period of political turmoil, including a failed coup d'etat in 1924, and was hit hard by the Great Depression in 1929 before things became more stable in the mid 1930s. Between 1939 and 1945 Estonia's population was devastated by the Second World War, with some estimates claiming that as many as 7.3 percent of all civilians perished as a result of the conflict. From the graph we can see the population grew by 119 thousand people during the 12 years shown, growing from 1.107 million to 1.126 million. The number of women was also higher than the number of men during this time, by 67 thousand in 1922 and 68 thousand in 1934. Inter-war Latvia For Latvia, Independence was a hard-won struggle that had devastated the population in the late 1910s. Similarly to Estonia, the advent of independence brought many challenges to Latvia, and a period of political and economic turmoil followed, which was exacerbated by the Great Depression in 1929. After economic recovery began in 1933, and a coup d'etat established stricter control in 1934, the Latvian economy and political landscape became more stable and the quality of life improved. This lasted until the Second World War, where Latvia became one of the staging grounds of Germany's war against Soviet Russia, and approximately 12.5 percent of all civilians died. From the data we can see that Latvia's population between 1925 and 1935 grew steadily by 95,000 in this decade, with the number of men and women growing at a similar rate. Inter-war Lithuania Lithuania's experience in the interwar period was slightly different to that of Latvia and Estonia. The end of the First World War led to a growing movement for independence from German, Russian or Polish influence, however these countries were reluctant to cede control to one another, and independence was finally achieved in 1922. A right wing dictatorship was established in 1926, which maintained political and civil control until the outbreak of the Second World War, however interference from other nations, particularly Germany, was ever-present in Lithuanian economic activity. From the graph we have only one set of figures, showing that the Lithuanian population was just over 2 million in 1929, with approximately 5 percent more women than men. World War II again devastated Lithuania's population, with almost 14.4 percent of the entire population falling during the conflict.