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Population density (people per sq. km of land area)
Environment
Population density (people per sq. km of land area)
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.
World Bank code: EN.POP.DNST
• Data available for 216 countries • Latest year: 2023
In ,
Macao SAR, China
led Population density (people per sq. km of land area) at 20,569.70.
The world median across 215 reporting countries was
95.27.
What this measures:
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.
How "Environment" indicators are measured
Environmental indicators cover emissions, land use, biodiversity, and natural resources. Emissions data is often produced by international scientific consortia (EDGAR, Global Carbon Project) and typically lags 2–3 years due to the complexity of fuel- and process-level accounting. Per-capita metrics reveal a different story than absolute totals — small wealthy countries can have high per-capita emissions while contributing little to the global total.
Distribution — 2023
Reporting
215 countries
Median
95.27
Mean
453.71
25th percentile
39.72
75th percentile
240.49
Range
0.14 – 20,569.70
World at a Glance — 2023
Every reporting country, grouped by region, shaded by value (quintile).
Lighter = lower value · Darker = higher value. Hover a cell to see the country and value.
Highest Values — 2023
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Country
Population density (people per sq. km of land area)
Looking for a specific country?
Only the top and bottom 10 appear here. See where every country ranks for Population density (people per sq. km of land area).