diff --git a/country-explorer/src/components/App.tsx b/country-explorer/src/components/App.tsx
index 0415156..8bd2705 100644
--- a/country-explorer/src/components/App.tsx
+++ b/country-explorer/src/components/App.tsx
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 import './App.css';
 import { useState } from 'react';
 import { useCountries } from '../hooks/useCountries';
+import { sortCountries, type SortOption } from '../utils/sortCountries';
 import CountryCard from './CountryCard';
 import CountrySelector from './CountrySelector';
 import RegionFilter from './RegionFilter';
+import SortSelector from './SortSelector';
 import Loading from './Loading';
 import ErrorMessage from './ErrorMessage';
 import NavigationControls from './NavigationControls';
@@ -22,21 +24,24 @@ function App() {
   const filteredCountries = selectedRegion
     ? countries.filter((country) => getRegion(country) === selectedRegion)
     : countries;
+  const [sortOption, setSortOption] = useState<SortOption>('name-asc');
+  // A fresh, sorted copy — filteredCountries (and the cached query data it
+  // derives from) is left untouched.
+  const sortedCountries = sortCountries(filteredCountries, sortOption);
   const [selectedCountryCode, setSelectedCountryCode] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const selectedCountry =
-    filteredCountries.find((country) => country.code === selectedCountryCode) ??
-    filteredCountries[0];
+    sortedCountries.find((country) => country.code === selectedCountryCode) ?? sortedCountries[0];
   const activeCountryCode = selectedCountry?.code ?? null;
-  const activeCountryIndex = filteredCountries.findIndex(
+  const activeCountryIndex = sortedCountries.findIndex(
     (country) => country.code === activeCountryCode,
   );
 
   function navigateCountry(direction: -1 | 1) {
     setSelectedCountryCode((currentCode) => {
-      const currentIndex = filteredCountries.findIndex((country) => country.code === currentCode);
-      if (currentIndex === -1) return filteredCountries[0]?.code ?? null;
+      const currentIndex = sortedCountries.findIndex((country) => country.code === currentCode);
+      if (currentIndex === -1) return sortedCountries[0]?.code ?? null;
 
-      return filteredCountries[currentIndex + direction]?.code ?? currentCode;
+      return sortedCountries[currentIndex + direction]?.code ?? currentCode;
     });
   }
 
@@ -56,15 +61,19 @@ function App() {
       <main>
         <section aria-labelledby="controls-heading">
           <h2 id="controls-heading">Filters and selection</h2>
-          {/* SortSelector goes here */}
           <RegionFilter
             regions={availableRegions}
             selectedRegion={selectedRegion}
             onRegionChange={setSelectedRegion}
             disabled={isLoading || isError}
           />
+          <SortSelector
+            sortOption={sortOption}
+            onSortChange={setSortOption}
+            disabled={isLoading || isError}
+          />
           <CountrySelector
-            countries={filteredCountries}
+            countries={sortedCountries}
             selectedCountryCode={activeCountryCode}
             onSelectCountry={setSelectedCountryCode}
             disabled={isLoading || isError}
@@ -85,7 +94,7 @@ function App() {
               <CountryCard country={selectedCountry} />
               <NavigationControls
                 currentIndex={activeCountryIndex}
-                totalCountries={filteredCountries.length}
+                totalCountries={sortedCountries.length}
                 onPrevious={() => navigateCountry(-1)}
                 onNext={() => navigateCountry(1)}
               />
diff --git a/country-explorer/src/components/SortSelector.css b/country-explorer/src/components/SortSelector.css
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e823c24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/country-explorer/src/components/SortSelector.css
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+.sort-selector {
+  display: flex;
+  flex-wrap: wrap;
+  align-items: center;
+  justify-content: center;
+  gap: 0.5rem;
+  margin: 1rem;
+}
+
+.sort-selector select {
+  min-width: 0;
+  max-width: 100%;
+  padding: 0.5rem;
+  font: inherit;
+  color: var(--text-h);
+  background: var(--bg);
+  border: 1px solid var(--border);
+  border-radius: 4px;
+}
+
+.sort-selector select:focus-visible {
+  outline: 2px solid var(--accent);
+  outline-offset: 3px;
+}
diff --git a/country-explorer/src/components/SortSelector.tsx b/country-explorer/src/components/SortSelector.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..054c69e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/country-explorer/src/components/SortSelector.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+import { useId } from 'react';
+import { SORT_OPTIONS, type SortOption } from '../utils/sortCountries';
+import './SortSelector.css';
+
+interface SortSelectorProps {
+  sortOption: SortOption;
+  onSortChange: (option: SortOption) => void;
+  disabled?: boolean;
+}
+
+function SortSelector({ sortOption, onSortChange, disabled = false }: SortSelectorProps) {
+  const selectId = useId();
+
+  return (
+    <div className="sort-selector">
+      <label htmlFor={selectId}>Sort by</label>
+      <select
+        id={selectId}
+        value={sortOption}
+        onChange={(event) => onSortChange(event.target.value as SortOption)}
+        disabled={disabled}
+      >
+        {SORT_OPTIONS.map((option) => (
+          <option key={option.value} value={option.value}>
+            {option.label}
+          </option>
+        ))}
+      </select>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
+export default SortSelector;
diff --git a/country-explorer/src/utils/sortCountries.ts b/country-explorer/src/utils/sortCountries.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..336055c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/country-explorer/src/utils/sortCountries.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import type { Country } from '../types/country';
+
+export type SortOption = 'name-asc' | 'population-desc';
+
+// Drives both the <select> in SortSelector and the switch below, so the
+// two can never drift out of sync.
+export const SORT_OPTIONS: { value: SortOption; label: string }[] = [
+  { value: 'name-asc', label: 'Name (A–Z)' },
+  { value: 'population-desc', label: 'Population (high to low)' },
+];
+
+/**
+ * Returns a new, sorted array. The input list (React Query's cached data)
+ * is never mutated — callers get a fresh copy to display.
+ */
+export function sortCountries(countries: Country[], sortOption: SortOption): Country[] {
+  const sorted = [...countries];
+
+  switch (sortOption) {
+    case 'population-desc':
+      // Countries with unknown population sort last either way.
+      sorted.sort((a, b) => (b.population ?? -Infinity) - (a.population ?? -Infinity));
+      break;
+    case 'name-asc':
+    default:
+      sorted.sort((a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name));
+      break;
+  }
+
+  return sorted;
+}