how many people needed to settle an area before applying for statehood?

The Ordinance of 1784, drafted by Thomas Jefferson and passed by Congress (April 23, 1784), divided the territory into a handful of self-governing districts. It stipulated that each district could send one representative to Congress upon its attaining a population of 20,000, and it would become eligible for statehood when its population equaled that of the least-populous existing state. (This ordinance was superseded by the Ordinance of 1787.)