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Countries by Population Density | Countries by Density 2023

What are the most densely populated countries in the world? Perhaps surprisingly, the most populous countries in the world, China and India, are far from the most densely populated.

The fact is, China and India are simply too large to have the highest population density. In the same way that a stadium holds far more people in total but a bus is easier to fill to capacity, several tiny countries and territories fit far more people into each square kilometer than even the most populous large countries.

For example, the most densely populated country in the world in 2020 was the diminutive European city-state of Monaco. Located near the French Riviera on the northern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, Monaco has a population of fewer than 40,000 people compared to China's 1.4 billion—but squeezes them into a mere two km² of land area (compared to China's 9.7 million km²).

Top 10 most densely populated countries in the world, 2020:

  1. Monaco - 19,361/km²
  2. Singapore - 8,019/km²
  3. Bahrain - 2,182/km²
  4. Maldives - 1,802/km²
  5. Malta - 1,642/km²
  6. Bangladesh - 1,265/km²
  7. Vatican City - 924/km² (2019 figure)
  8. Barbados - 668/km²
  9. Lebanon - 667/km²
  10. Mauritius - 624/km²

If one expands the list to overlook political technicalities and include territories that are currently claimed by larger nations, such as Hong Kong and Macau—the "Special Administrative Regions" of China—the numbers become even more impactful.

Top 10 most densely populated countries and territories in the world, 2020:

  1. Macau (SAR of China)- 19,737/km²
  2. Monaco - 19,361/km²
  3. Singapore - 8,019/km²
  4. Hong Kong (SAR of China) - 7,126/km²
  5. Gibraltar (CD of UK) - 3,369/km²
  6. Bahrain - 2,182/km²
  7. Maldives - 1,802/km²
  8. Malta - 1,642/km²
  9. Bangladesh - 1,265/km²
  10. Sint Maarten (Netherlands) - 1,200/km²

On the expanded list, the Chinese territory of Macau has the world's highest population density at 19,737/km². In fact, three of the top five entries are territories rather than countries, with first-place Macau joined by fellow Chinese territory Hong Kong in 4th place and the UK "crown dependency" Gibraltar in 5th.

It is notable that all of these locations are tiny. The whole top five together have a total area of less than 2,000 km². Moreover, most are also highly urbanized centers of wealth and finance, with a tendency toward cities and skyscrapers rather than rolling fields or vast wilderness areas.

On the other end of the spectrum, some of the largest countries in the world by land area have quite low population densities. For example, Russia has a population density of just 9/km², while Canada is even lower at 4/km². The United States of America has a population density of 36/km², which is quite low considering the U.S. is also the country with the third-highest population in the world. For comparison, the two countries with the highest populations—China and India—have population densities of 146/km² and 412/km², respectively.

Density calculation based on land area, not total area.

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Country
Density (/km²)
Density (/mi²)
2023 Population
Area (km²)
Macau21,40355,433704,14933
Monaco18,14947,00536,2972
Singapore8,37721,6976,014,723710
Hong Kong7,13518,4797,491,6091.1K
Gibraltar4,80712,45032,6887
Bahrain1,8924,9011,485,509765
Maldives1,7374,498521,021300
Malta1,6724,331535,064316
Bangladesh1,3293,441172,954,319147.6K
Sint Maarten1,3013,36944,22234
Bermuda1,1863,07364,06954
Vatican City1,1773,049518< 1
Guernsey1,0092,61263,54478
Jersey9322,413111,802116
Mayotte8982,327335,995374
Palestine8922,3115,371,2306.2K
Taiwan6611,71223,923,27636.2K
Barbados6561,699281,995430
Saint Martin6421,66232,07753
Mauritius6411,6591,300,5572K
Nauru6391,65512,78021
Aruba5901,529106,277180
Rwanda5711,48014,094,68326.3K
San Marino5611,45233,64261
South Korea5311,37451,784,059100.2K
Lebanon5231,3555,353,93010.5K
Netherlands5231,35517,618,29941.9K
Burundi5161,33513,238,55927.8K
India4811,2451,428,627,6633.3M
Comoros4581,186852,0751.9K
Saint Barthelemy4401,13910,99421
Curacao4331,120192,077444
Haiti4251,10211,724,76327.8K
Israel4241,0989,174,52020.8K
Philippines3941,019117,337,368342.4K
Reunion3911,012981,7962.5K
Belgium3861,00011,686,14030.5K
Tuvalu38098411,39626
Grenada371961126,183344
Puerto Rico3689523,260,3148.9K
Sri Lanka35491721,893,57965.6K
Japan338876123,294,513377.9K
Martinique325843366,9811.1K
Guam320830172,952549
Vietnam31581798,858,950331.2K
Pakistan312808240,485,658881.9K
El Salvador3077966,364,94321K
Trinidad and Tobago2997751,534,9375.1K
Saint Lucia295765180,251616
Cayman Islands28974869,310264
United States Virgin Islands28573798,750347
United Kingdom28072567,736,802242.9K
Gambia2747102,773,16810.7K
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines266689103,698389
Jamaica2616762,825,54411K
Luxembourg254659654,7682.6K
Liechtenstein24764139,584160
Nigeria246636223,804,632923.8K
Guadeloupe243630395,8391.6K
Uganda24262848,582,334241.6K
Kuwait2426264,310,10817.8K
Sao Tome and Principe242626231,856964
Germany23861783,294,633357.1K
Qatar2366122,716,39111.6K
Dominican Republic23560811,332,97248.7K
Seychelles234606107,660452
Marshall Islands23360441,996181
Switzerland2235778,796,66941.3K
Malawi22257520,931,751118.5K
American Samoa22056943,914199
North Korea21756326,160,821120.5K
Nepal21655830,896,590147.2K
Antigua and Barbuda21455594,298442
British Virgin Islands21054531,538151
Italy19951658,870,762301.3K
Tokelau1894901,89312
Saint Kitts and Nevis18447647,755261
Anguilla17545315,89991
Andorra17044180,088468
Guatemala16943718,092,026108.9K
Togo1664319,053,79956.8K
Kiribati165427133,515811
Micronesia165426115,224702
China1513921,425,671,3529.7M
Ghana15038834,121,985238.5K
Tonga150388107,773747
Isle of Man14938584,710572
Cape Verde148384598,6824K
Indonesia148383277,534,1221.9M
Denmark1483835,910,91343.1K
Thailand14136471,801,279513.1K
Cyprus1363531,260,1389.3K
Czech Republic13635210,495,29578.9K
Poland13434741,026,067312.7K
United Arab Emirates1343479,516,87183.6K
Jordan12833111,337,05289.3K
Syria12632823,227,014185.2K
Azerbaijan12632610,412,65186.6K
Sierra Leone1223158,791,09271.7K
Benin12231513,712,828112.6K
France11830664,756,584551.7K
Slovakia1183065,795,19949K
Egypt113293112,716,5981M
Ethiopia112290126,527,0601.1M
Portugal11229010,247,60592.1K
Hungary11128810,156,23993K
Turkey11028485,816,199783.6K
Austria1092818,958,96083.9K
Northern Mariana Islands10828049,796464
Cuba10827911,194,449109.9K
Slovenia1052732,119,67520.3K
Iraq10527145,504,560438.3K
Moldova1042713,435,93133.8K
Malaysia10427034,308,525330.8K
Albania1032682,832,43928.7K
Costa Rica1022645,212,17351.1K
Armenia982532,777,97029.7K
Dominica9725273,040751
Kenya9725155,100,586580.4K
Cambodia9624916,944,826181K
Spain9524647,519,628506K
Honduras9524510,593,798112.5K
Senegal9223917,763,163196.7K
Timor Leste912371,360,59614.9K
Ivory Coast9123528,873,034322.5K
French Polynesia89230308,8724.2K
Romania8622419,892,812238.4K
Brunei86222452,5245.8K
Burkina Faso8522023,251,485273K
Morocco8522037,840,044446.6K
Myanmar8421754,577,997676.6K
North Macedonia832142,085,67925.7K
Serbia822127,149,07788.4K
Samoa81210225,6812.8K
Greece8020810,341,277132K
Tunisia8020812,458,223163.6K
Uzbekistan8020735,163,944447.4K
Lesotho771992,330,31830.4K
Guinea Bissau761982,150,84236.1K
Tanzania7619767,438,106945.1K
Ireland731905,056,93570.3K
Ecuador7319018,190,484276.8K
Tajikistan7318910,143,543143.1K
Croatia721864,008,61756.6K
Cook Islands7118417,044240
Eswatini701821,210,82217.4K
Mexico66171128,455,5672M
Yemen6516934,449,825528K
Afghanistan6516842,239,854652.2K
Ukraine6316436,744,634603.5K
Bosnia and Herzegovina631623,210,84751.2K
Bulgaria621606,687,717110.9K
Equatorial Guinea611581,714,67128.1K
Cameroon6115728,647,293475.4K
Panama601564,468,08775.4K
Nicaragua591527,046,310130.4K
Guinea5815014,190,612245.9K
Liberia561465,418,377111.4K
Iran5514289,172,7671.6M
Georgia541393,728,28269.7K
Madagascar5213530,325,732587K
Fiji51133936,37518.3K
South Africa5012960,414,4951.2M
Djibouti491271,136,45523.2K
Turks and Caicos Islands4912646,062948
Colombia4712252,085,1681.1M
Belarus471219,498,238207.6K
Montenegro47121626,48513.8K
DR Congo45117102,262,8082.3M
Lithuania431122,718,35265.3K
Mozambique4311233,897,354801.6K
Zimbabwe4311216,665,409390.8K
Montserrat431114,386102
Wallis and Futuna4210911,502274
Bahamas41107412,62313.9K
Palau3910218,058459
Faroe Islands3910153,2701.4K
United States3796339,996,5639.4M
Kyrgyzstan35916,735,347200K
Laos33867,633,779236.8K
Venezuela338528,838,499916.4K
Eritrea31803,748,901117.6K
Estonia31801,322,76545.2K
Angola297636,684,2021.2M
Latvia29761,830,21164.6K
Somalia297518,143,378637.7K
Zambia287220,569,737752.6K
Vanuatu2771334,50612.2K
Peru277034,352,7191.3M
Solomon Islands2669740,42428.9K
Chile266819,629,590756.1K
Sweden266710,612,086450.3K
Brazil2667216,422,4468.5M
Sudan266748,109,0061.9M
Saint Pierre and Miquelon24635,840242
Papua New Guinea235910,329,931462.8K
Niger215627,202,8431.3M
Bhutan2153787,42438.4K
New Zealand20515,228,100270.5K
Uruguay20513,423,108181K
Algeria195045,606,4802.4M
Mali194923,293,6981.2M
Finland18475,545,475338.4K
Belize1847410,82523K
Republic of the Congo18466,106,869342K
South Sudan184511,088,796619.7K
Paraguay17456,861,524406.8K
Saudi Arabia174536,947,0252.1M
Argentina174345,773,8842.8M
New Caledonia1642292,99118.6K
Norway15395,474,360323.8K
Oman15394,644,384309.5K
Chad153818,278,5681.3M
Turkmenistan14366,516,100488.1K
Bolivia113012,388,5711.1M
Gabon9242,436,566267.7K
Central African Republic9245,742,315623K
Russia923144,444,35917.1M
Niue7191,935261
Kazakhstan71919,606,6332.7M
Botswana5122,675,352582K
Mauritania5124,862,9891M
Canada41138,781,29110M
Guyana411813,834215K
Suriname410623,236163.8K
Libya4106,888,3881.8M
French Guiana410312,15583.5K
Iceland410375,318103K
Australia3926,439,1117.7M
Namibia382,604,172825.6K
Mongolia263,447,1571.6M
Western Sahara26587,259266K
Falkland Islands0.3113,79112.2K
Greenland0.140.3656,6432.2M
showing: 234 rows

What is the most densely populated country in the world?

Monaco is the most densely populated country in the world.

What is the least densely populated country in the world?

Greenland is the least densely populated country in the world.

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