Singapore is 118!

My daughter asked me about which is the most populous country in the world today.

I rattle off the obvious, i.e. China 1st, India 2nd and then I was lost. I promised that I will check. Here is the list that I googled from the US census Bureau for 2008:

Countries and Areas Ranked by Population: 2008
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Rank Country or Area Population
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1 China 1,330,044,605
2 India 1,147,995,898
3 United States 303,824,646
4 Indonesia 237,512,355
5 Brazil 196,342,587
6 Pakistan 172,800,051
7 Bangladesh 153,546,901
8 Nigeria 146,255,306
9 Russia 140,702,094
10 Japan 127,288,419
11 Mexico 109,955,400
12 Philippines 96,061,683
13 Vietnam 86,116,559
14 Ethiopia 82,544,838
15 Germany 82,369,548
16 Egypt 81,713,517
17 Turkey 71,892,807
18 Congo (Kinshasa) 66,514,506
19 Iran 65,875,223
20 Thailand 65,493,298
21 France 64,057,790
22 United Kingdom 60,943,912
23 Italy 58,145,321
24 South Africa 48,782,755
25 Korea, South 48,379,392
26 Burma 47,758,181
27 Ukraine 45,994,287
28 Colombia 45,013,674
29 Spain 40,491,051
30 Argentina 40,481,998
31 Sudan 40,218,455
32 Tanzania 40,213,162
33 Poland 38,500,696
34 Kenya 37,953,838
35 Morocco 34,343,219
36 Algeria 33,769,669
37 Canada 33,212,696
38 Afghanistan 32,738,376
39 Uganda 31,367,972
40 Nepal 29,519,114
41 Peru 29,180,899
42 Iraq 28,221,181
43 Saudi Arabia 28,146,657
44 Uzbekistan 27,345,026
45 Venezuela 26,414,815
46 Malaysia 25,274,133
47 Korea, North 23,479,089
48 Ghana 23,382,848
49 Yemen 23,013,376
50 Taiwan 22,920,946
51 Romania 22,246,862
52 Mozambique 21,284,701
53 Sri Lanka 21,128,773
54 Australia 21,007,310
55 Cote d'Ivoire 20,179,602
56 Madagascar 20,042,551
57 Syria 19,747,586
58 Cameroon 18,467,692
59 Netherlands 16,645,313
60 Chile 16,454,143
61 Kazakhstan 15,340,533
62 Burkina Faso 15,264,735
63 Cambodia 14,241,640
64 Malawi 13,931,831
65 Ecuador 13,927,650
66 Niger 13,272,679
67 Guatemala 13,002,206
68 Senegal 12,853,259
69 Angola 12,531,357
70 Mali 12,324,029
71 Zambia 11,669,534
72 Cuba 11,423,952
73 Zimbabwe 11,350,111
74 Greece 10,722,816
75 Portugal 10,676,910
76 Belgium 10,403,951
77 Tunisia 10,383,577
78 Czech Republic 10,220,911
79 Rwanda 10,186,063
80 Serbia 10,159,046
81 Chad 10,111,337
82 Hungary 9,930,915
83 Guinea 9,806,509
84 Belarus 9,685,768
85 Somalia 9,558,666
86 Dominican Republic 9,507,133
87 Bolivia 9,247,816
88 Sweden 9,045,389
89 Haiti 8,924,553
90 Burundi 8,691,005
91 Benin 8,532,547
92 Austria 8,205,533
93 Azerbaijan 8,177,717
94 Honduras 7,639,327
95 Switzerland 7,581,520
96 Bulgaria 7,262,675
97 Tajikistan 7,211,884
98 Israel 7,112,359
99 El Salvador 7,066,403
100 Hong Kong S.A.R. 7,018,636
101 Paraguay 6,831,306
102 Laos 6,677,534
103 Sierra Leone 6,294,774
104 Jordan 6,198,677
105 Libya 6,173,579
106 Papua New Guinea 5,931,769
107 Togo 5,858,673
108 Nicaragua 5,785,846
109 Eritrea 5,502,026
110 Denmark 5,484,723
111 Slovakia 5,455,407
112 Kyrgyzstan 5,356,869
113 Finland 5,244,749
114 Turkmenistan 5,179,571
115 Norway 4,644,457
116 Georgia 4,630,841
117 United Arab Emirates 4,621,399
118 Singapore 4,608,167
119 Bosnia and Herzegovina 4,590,310
120 Croatia 4,491,543
121 Central African Republic 4,444,330
122 Moldova 4,324,450
123 Costa Rica 4,195,914
124 New Zealand 4,173,460
125 Ireland 4,156,119
126 Lebanon 3,971,941
127 Puerto Rico 3,958,128
128 Congo (Brazzaville) 3,903,318
129 Albania 3,619,778
130 Lithuania 3,565,205
131 Uruguay 3,477,778
132 Mauritania 3,364,940
133 Liberia 3,334,587
134 Oman 3,311,640
135 Panama 3,309,679
136 Mongolia 2,996,081
137 Armenia 2,968,586
138 Jamaica 2,804,332
139 Kuwait 2,596,799
140 West Bank 2,407,681
141 Latvia 2,245,423
142 Lesotho 2,128,180
143 Namibia 2,088,669
144 Macedonia 2,061,315
145 Slovenia 2,007,711
146 Botswana 1,842,323
147 Gambia, The 1,735,464
148 Guinea-Bissau 1,503,182
149 Gaza Strip 1,500,202
150 Gabon 1,485,832
151 Estonia 1,307,605
152 Mauritius 1,274,189
153 Swaziland 1,128,814
154 Timor-Leste 1,108,777
155 Trinidad and Tobago 1,047,366
156 Fiji 931,741
157 Qatar 824,789
158 Cyprus 792,604
159 Guyana 770,794
160 Comoros 731,775
161 Bahrain 718,306
162 Bhutan 682,321
163 Montenegro 678,177
164 Equatorial Guinea 616,459
165 Solomon Islands 581,318
166 Macau S.A.R. 545,674
167 Djibouti 506,221
168 Luxembourg 486,006
169 Suriname 475,996
170 Cape Verde 426,998
171 Malta 403,532
172 Western Sahara 393,831
173 Maldives 385,925
174 Brunei 381,371
175 Bahamas, The 307,451
176 Iceland 304,367
177 Belize 301,270
178 French Polynesia 283,019
179 Barbados 281,968
180 Netherlands Antilles 225,369
181 New Caledonia 224,824
182 Samoa 217,083
183 Mayotte 216,306
184 Vanuatu 215,446
185 Sao Tome and Principe 206,178
186 Guam 175,877
187 Saint Lucia 159,585
188 Tonga 119,009
189 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 118,432
190 Kiribati 110,356
191 Virgin Islands, U.S. 109,840
192 Micronesia, Federated States of 107,665
193 Aruba 101,541
194 Jersey 91,533
195 Grenada 90,343
196 Northern Mariana Islands 86,616
197 Antigua and Barbuda 84,522
198 Andorra 82,627
199 Seychelles 82,247
200 Isle of Man 76,220
201 Dominica 72,514
202 Bermuda 66,536
203 Guernsey 65,726
204 American Samoa 64,827
205 Marshall Islands 63,174
206 Greenland 57,564
207 Faroe Islands 48,668
208 Cayman Islands 47,862
209 Saint Kitts and Nevis 39,817
210 Liechtenstein 34,498
211 Monaco 32,796
212 San Marino 29,973
213 Saint Martin 29,376
214 Gibraltar 28,002
215 Virgin Islands, British 24,041
216 Turks and Caicos Islands 22,352
217 Palau 21,093
218 Wallis and Futuna 15,237
219 Anguilla 14,108
220 Nauru 13,770
221 Cook Islands 12,271
222 Tuvalu 12,177
223 Saint Helena 7,601
224 Saint Barthelemy 7,492
225 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 7,044
226 Montserrat 5,079
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Note: Data updated 6-18-2008 (Release notes).
Latest U.S. projections not included.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, International Data Base.