Below is the list of tables from the database along with their columns and datatype. Need to generate an accurate SQL query for the question.
Only use the columns present in the respective table. Only use the columns which are required to generate the SQL query. Only use table joins if required and not otherwise.

### Tables ###
TABLE: CREATE TABLE table_171236_1 (population VARCHAR, census_ranking VARCHAR)

### Question ###
If the census ranking is 231 of 5,008, what was the population?

### Accurate SQL ###

SELECT population FROM table_171236_1 WHERE census_ranking = "231 of 5,008"