What is population density?
Definition : Population density is the number of people for a given area.
Often given as how many people per square kilometer.
If places are densely populated, they will have a high population
density and if places are sparsely populated, they will have a low
population density.
How do you work out population density?
Highest population density by country
Position Country people per km2
1 Macau 18,534
2 Monaco 16,923
3 Singapore 7,148
4 Hong Kong 6,349
5 Gibraltar 4,559
6 Vatican City 1,877
7 Bahrain 1,646
8 Malta 1,322
9 Bermuda 1,226
10 Sint Maarten 1,101
Macau Peninsula as seen from the air.
Highest population density by large country
(5 million+)
Position Country people per km2
1 Singapore 7,148
2 Hong Kong 6,349
3 Bangladesh 964
4 Taiwan 639
5 South Korea 487
6 Netherlands 408
7 Rwanda 380
8 Israel 371
9 India 368
10 Haiti 362
The Singapore skyline at night
Lowest population density by country
Position Country people per km2
1 Greenland 0.026
2 Falkland island 0.26
3 Mongolia 1.7
4 Western Sahara 1.9
5 French Guiana 2.1
6 Namibia 2.6
7 Australia 3.1
8 Iceland 3.1
9 Suriname 3.2
10 Mauritania 3.2
Greenland as seen from space, almost completely covered with ice.
(5 million+)
Lowest population density by large country
Position Country people per km2
1 Australia 3.1
2 Canada 3.4
3 Libya 3.6
4 Kazakhstan 6.2
5 Russia 8.3
6 Chad 8.8
7 Bolivia 9
8 Turkmenistan 10
9 Mali 12
10 Saudi Arabia 12
This activity also then goes on to develop some geography skills by asking the pupils to locate on to the blank map of the world the location of the world's major deserts.
The Australian outback, the most sparsely populated place in the world.
Population density maps
Below you can find population density maps for various different countries. Using the same scale, they allow accurate comparison between different countries. Click on the images to download a pdf version.
