Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of countries by population in 1950


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. Liz Read! Talk! 19:02, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

List of countries by population in 1950

 * – ( View AfD View log | edits since nomination)

Empty list created by now-indeffed. The article was prodded on 9 October, then deprodded on 14 October, before the entire list was axed as OR on 16 October. – dudhhr (1 enby in a trenchcoat) talk contribs (he/they) 18:09, 24 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Lists-related deletion discussions. – dudhhr (1 enby in a trenchcoat) talk contribs (he/they) 18:09, 24 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of History-related deletion discussions. – dudhhr (1 enby in a trenchcoat) talk contribs (he/they) 18:19, 24 October 2022 (UTC)


 * Delete. On the face if it, it would appear that an article on List of countries by population in 1950 would be a good thing. This, however isn't it. I could go into considerable detail about the many things wrong with the data in the article (before I blanked it), but suffice to say it is full of material which is either WP:OR, badly sourced, or lacking any source at all. And furthermore, it has to be asked whether such a definitive list could ever be created, in accordance with Wikipedia policy. The essential issue is that there appear to be relatively few even remotely complete sources for such data, all seem to be problematic in one way or another (even the best are inevitably estimates, not least because census data is rarely available for the relevant year), and any attempt to combine such sources into a single table inevitably involves the sort of picking and chosing that WP:OR policy forbids. The best we could probably come up with would be a list of lists of countries by population in 1950, each cited to a different source. Definitive data for the period apparently doesn't exist, and we shouldn't be constructing articles around the premise that it does. AndyTheGrump (talk) 18:29, 24 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Delete per WP:TNT. If someone wants to re-create a version of this article that doesn't have WP:OR like this article, and all of the other articles by this creator that were deleted. But nothing worth saving from the current OR packed version of this article. Joseph2302 (talk) 19:07, 24 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Delete I don't see the point, was there something special about 1950? It was the mid-century point I suppose, but seems rather random. Oaktree b (talk) 19:33, 24 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Delete under WP:TNT. — Ceso femmuin mbolgaig mbung, mellohi! (投稿) 19:41, 24 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Comment Category:Lists of countries by population by year has other articles like this one. Should they all be nominated at once for the same problem?  There should be somewhere on the United Nations website or other legitimate sources showing the world population year by year.  Picking a year the first census done before and after World War 2 would make sense perhaps.  Or an article showing time periods where the human population rapidly dropped do to war or disease, could be a valid list.   D r e a m Focus  22:49, 24 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Should similar lists be nominated? Quite possibly, in that the dogs-breakfast mixed-source/WP:OR approach seen in the 1950 list is sadly far from unique. As for what legitimate sources have to say on the matter, the U.S. Census Bureau has estimated population data for 1950 in its database. It also has this to say about the validity of such data: Total midyear population estimates and projections in the IDB are available for 1950 onward for all current countries whether or not they existed in 1950. The data and methods through which the 1950 populations were developed vary depending on the availability of data for each country. For many statistically less developed and lower income countries, modern censuses were not conducted until the 1960s or 1970s, and reliable population data therefore are not available. (from p 38). A reliable source saying that data to create a comprehensive and accurate list for 1950 doesn't exist... AndyTheGrump (talk) 22:56, 24 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Delete Per the census data quoted above. Doesn’t appear that such a list is currently possible for the time period. 2604:2D80:6A8D:E200:E55D:FE90:B92:110F (talk) 23:56, 24 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Comment I haven't looked into the source material closely, but obviously there is going to be a (very recent) point which should mark the earliest possible time populations can be so comprehensively estimated. AndyTheGrump's quote above suggests 1960s/1970s and that seems reasonable. I note the existence of Estimates of historical world population, which does seem a reasonable topic, and would suggest it be considered that all earlier lists be deleted, or if they contain anything useful, merged and redirected to that article. CMD (talk) 05:34, 25 October 2022 (UTC)
 * I'd not seen that article. Given that it seems to cover the topic appropriately, both citing credible sources and going into significant detail over the uncertainties involved - which the 'List' articles singularly fail to do, in addition to all their other faults - the suggestion that the other lists be deleted and redirected seems entirely sensible. Frankly, I'd be surprised if there was anything much of significance which required merger. AndyTheGrump (talk) 09:49, 25 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Delete - as with all creations by this editor. Beyond My Ken (talk) 00:09, 26 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Delete: I'm in agreement with most of what the editors above have said. Hey man im josh (talk) 13:56, 29 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Delete. I don't think we need a separate article for census of every single year. -TheodoreIndiana (talk) 12:11, 31 October 2022 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.