The map above shows a very rough estimate of the population of each continent in 10,000 BC.The numbers come form Our World In Data, which uses HYDE version 3.3.Here is list of estimated populations for people living within the borders of modern day states in 10,000 BC.EntityPopulation (historical)World4,501,152Upper-middle-income countries2,550,997North America1,184,755Asia1,183,783South America1,097,849High-income countries1,017,355Mexico810,851Lower-middle-income countries763,498USSR727,181Europe481,591Brazil415,018Oceania324,198Australia314,500Russia257,671Peru242,217United States233,969Africa228,973China217,311Low-income countries164,616Colombia128,828Kazakhstan108,469Nepal107,405Bolivia104,718Uzbekistan102,306Ukraine98,793India84,810European Union (27)80,143Ecuador69,685Venezuela69,396Guatemala52,148Turkey39,506Iran38,101Iraq35,992Chile34,799Sri Lanka32,212Nicaragua30,733Kyrgyzstan28,350Argentina27,969Syria26,928Georgia25,145Tajikistan24,652Democratic Republic of Congo21,905Vietnam21,429Indonesia20,971Azerbaijan20,584Belarus20,549Lebanon20,511Myanmar19,798Turkmenistan19,721Spain18,221Morocco17,352Saudi Arabia17,339Nigeria17,305Canada17,259France16,785Ethiopia16,296Philippines16,146Mongolia14,955Afghanistan14,737Panama14,392Thailand14,011Egypt13,668Honduras13,390Uganda13,183Italy12,658Algeria12,090Israel11,936Sudan11,863Jordan11,376Moldova11,216South Korea10,786Laos10,775North Korea10,773Cambodia10,453Kenya10,114Papua New Guinea9,694Chad9,682Armenia9,614Bangladesh9,600Niger9,543El Salvador8,673Pakistan8,500Tanzania7,899Portugal7,160Libya6,936Germany6,576Taiwan5,579Japan5,202Tunisia4,837Cote d'Ivoire4,806Serbia and Montenegro4,363Ghana4,013Mali3,871Burkina Faso3,678Paraguay3,500Somalia3,470Togo3,271Cameroon3,224Eritrea3,098Mauritania2,995Romania2,799Malawi2,762Liberia2,729Oman2,644Benin2,557Guinea2,492Bosnia and Herzegovina2,349Central African Republic2,265United Kingdom2,189Mozambique2,155Costa Rica2,115Hungary2,109Equatorial Guinea2,049Congo1,997Uruguay1,705Slovakia1,679Hong Kong1,558Austria1,465Liechtenstein1,363Slovenia1,308Netherlands1,220Albania1,199Croatia1,198Bulgaria1,165Yemen981Cyprus922Kuwait912Belgium888Luxembourg791Dominican Republic755Malaysia754Zimbabwe749Senegal734North Macedonia725Poland699Czechia697Zambia668Burundi584Denmark540Rwanda539Switzerland507Greece494Finland421United Arab Emirates409East Timor387Angola379Gabon346Cuba241Norway237Sweden237Belize200Guinea-Bissau194Lesotho146Djibouti143South Africa90Eswatini88Bahrain77Sierra Leone77Lithuania45Namibia44Bhutan41Latvia38Botswana28Estonia28Gambia26Andorra25Guadeloupe12Brunei8Faroe Islands8Iceland8Madagascar6Qatar6Guyana5Saint Lucia5Grenada4New Caledonia3Suriname3Sao Tome and Principe2Antigua and Barbuda1What is the HYDE 3.3 dataset?HYDE stands for the “History Database of the Global Environment”. The version 3.3 is the latest major release (2023) of this long-term global, gridded dataset of human population, urban/rural splits, population density, built-up area, and land-use (cropland, pasture, rangeland, etc).It is maintained by e.g. the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency in collaboration with Utrecht University.It integrates historical population estimates + land use / built-up area, and represents them spatially (on a grid) as well as temporally (over many millennia).Key Features & CoverageHere are main technical / structural details of HYDE 3.3:Temporal coverage: From ~10,000 BCE (10 000 years before the Common Era) up to 2023 CE.Spatial resolution: 5 arc-minutes (which is about ~85 km² at the equator) grid cells.Variables / Layers: Includes total population, urban population, rural population, population density, built-up area (for population side). On the land-use side: cropland (with distinctions such as irrigated vs rain-fed, rice vs non-rice), grazing lands subdivided into intensively-used pasture, converted rangeland, non-converted rangeland, etc.Scenario variants: HYDE 3.3 contains a “Baseline” estimate plus “Lower” and “Upper” bound scenarios (to express uncertainty), though some tools currently expose only the Baseline version. (as we do above)Data format: The dataset is provided as grid maps (for example ESRI ASCII grid files) and is globally gridded.Updates from previous versions: HYDE 3.3 builds on version 3.2, extending the time to 2023 and refining data sources (including remote sensing and archaeological/ radiocarbon data for agriculture onset) and land-use distinctions.Limitations / Things to watch:The dataset is gridded at ~5 arc-minutes resolution, which means for country-level historic data you’ll need to aggregate grid cells to country boundaries. The dataset itself is not a clean “by country” table of population for each year (though tools may provide that).The dataset’s focus is broad (population + land use) rather than diplomatic or political events, so it doesn’t record things like “country X recognised the United States in year Y” but rather gives population context.The uncertainty in early years is large. For very early historical periods (especially before reliable census/records) the estimates are modelled. Thus, for older recognition events (19th century, early 20th), the population numbers may be especially uncertain.Things to Note / CaveatsBoundaries and political geography: HYDE deals with population and land use, but does not inherently handle changes in country boundaries, new states, colonial status, etc.Urban vs rural definitions: HYDE distinguishes urban vs rural population and built-up area, but the definitions vary historically and may have uncertainties especially for older years.Uncertainty/Scenarios: The lower/upper scenario variants reflect uncertainty; if you simply use the baseline you’re accepting one estimate but you might want to look at range.Data resolution: ~85 km² at equator means smaller countries or fine-scale analysis may be less precise. Also, near the poles resolution in area changes.The earliest years (10,000 BCE etc) are highly modelled; for more recent times (post-1900) the data are more reliable.What do you think?