Population density (people per sq. km of land area)

For 2023, Population density (people per sq. km of land area) is led by Macao SAR, China at 20,570. This page combines ranking, historical trend, and map-based distribution.

Population density is midyear population divided by land area in square kilometers. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship--except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes.

Countries ranked 215
Snapshot year 2023
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0.05.1 K10 K15 K21 KMacao SAR, ChinaMacao SAR, China: 20,57021 KMonacoMonaco: 18,69319 KSingaporeSingapore: 8,2428.2 KHong Kong SAR, ChinaHong Kong SAR, China: 7,1777.2 KGibraltarGibraltar: 3,8473.8 KBahrainBahrain: 1,9712.0 KMaldivesMaldives: 1,7651.8 KMaltaMalta: 1,7271.7 KBangladeshBangladesh: 1,3191.3 KSint Maarten (Dutch part)Sint Maarten (Dutch part): 1,2571.3 KBermudaBermuda: 1,1981.2 KWest Bank and GazaWest Bank and Gaza: 857857
Rank Country Value
201 Gabon 10
202 Russian Federation 9
203 Central African Republic 8
204 Kazakhstan 8
205 Mauritania 5
206 Canada 5
207 Botswana 4
208 Libya 4
209 Suriname 4
210 Guyana 4
211 Iceland 4
212 Namibia 4
213 Australia 3
214 Mongolia 2
215 Greenland 0
Some World Bank indicators are published with a lag. The site always shows the latest actually available year for each country and indicator.

Analytical takeaways

  • Macao SAR, China sits at the top of the Population density (people per sq. km of land area) distribution in 2023 at 20,570, with a lead of 1,877 over the next country.
  • The median country in the current global snapshot is Kenya at 95, which helps frame the center of the distribution rather than only the leaders.
  • At the lower end of the current sample sits Greenland (0), and the page currently covers 215 countries.