Explore the world's population density
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Map and sharing image: World Bank WDI / FAO (2025/2023) · CC BY 4.0 · Natural Earth 5.1.1 (public domain). Modified: calculated densities and shares.
World population over time
How has the world's population grown?
From roughly 323 million people in the year 1000 to 8.30 billion in 2026. Hover over the chart or choose a year with the slider to read the value.
Estimated world population now
UN-based estimateReference value: 1 July 2026.
This estimate interpolates between the UN's annual 1 July values using your device clock. The changing final digits illustrate modelled population growth, rather than a registration of every birth and death. The counter does not change the experiment's population setting.
HYDE 3.3 (Klein Goldewijk et al.) · Gapminder v7, free data · Our World in Data (2024-07-15) · CC BY 4.0. © United Nations 2024 · WPP2024 · CC BY 3.0 IGO. Modified: selected world and years, converted units, interpolated the counter.
Population density: people and land area
Explore how country-average density relates population to land area. Then set the population and density in the experiment and click a point on the map to see how much land everyone would occupy.
How has country population density changed since 1950?
Choose History in the map tools. The slider covers UN population estimates every five years from 1950 to 2020, plus the final estimate year, 2023. Play advances through the dates. The selected year changes country colours according to their average population density.
Outlines and land areas stay fixed. The year refers to estimated inhabitants of the territories covered by the UN series, not whether a state existed on that date. This compares population on the same areas without drawing historical borders. France and Serbia are omitted from the historical layer because the population series does not match their outline or land-area scope in our dataset. Unavailable comparable data is hatched. Togo uses the official UN correction released on 19 January 2026.
How many people live in densely populated countries?
In density view, colour represents average people per km² of land. The threshold highlights entire countries that meet the chosen condition. The two panel shares compare their combined population and land area with totals for countries that have complete data.
This compares countries without mapping local population clusters. It cannot tell you the fraction of actually inhabited land on which half of humanity lives. Population and land-area years are displayed separately because the sources can refer to different periods.
How much space would the world's population occupy?
The default experiment uses 8.30 billion people from a dated UN projection and a chosen density of 600 people per km². This is not the world average density. The density slider ranges from 50 to 10,000 people per km², and you can set a population of up to 20 billion. Changing the population does not change the density itself. The required area is population divided by people per km².
With your permission, the starting point comes from your device location; if unavailable, Warsaw is used. A point saved in the link takes priority. Click the map to choose another place. The area expands around it, colouring only land and excluding oceans and Antarctica from the calculation. The starting point must be on land. Water clicks are ignored, and a device location or shared point on water falls back to Warsaw. If there is not enough land, all available land is shown and the shortfall is reported. The simplified map geometry gives an approximate result, separate from statistical country areas.
The same area in different projections
Equal Earth is the default because it preserves area proportions. Switching projection changes neither the density nor the selected point or coloured land area. On Mercator, an area's appearance depends on latitude. The globe shows only part of Earth, so not all selected land will be visible at once.
Data sources
The World Bank: World Development Indicators. Population: 2025. Land area (FAO): 2023. CC BY 4.0. Modified: calculated densities and shares, rounded results.
Copyright © 2024 United Nations. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024, Online Edition. World Population Prospects 2024, Online Edition. CC BY 3.0 IGO. Modified: selected the world medium projection for 1 July 2026, converted thousands to people, calculated areas and rounded the results.
Natural Earth 5.1.1: public-domain geometry. Missing statistical data does not mean an area has no residents.
Population density and the experiment: questions answered
What does the population density threshold select?
The threshold selects whole countries whose average population per square kilometre of land is at least the chosen value. Population and land shares are calculated from their data totals, not from the size of their outlines on the screen.
Do the colours show exactly where people live?
No. Each colour represents a whole-country average. It does not show differences between cities, deserts and other areas within its borders. Missing data does not mean that an area has no inhabitants.
How can I see how much land everyone would occupy?
Open the experiment and set the population and density. The default density is 600 people per km², and the slider starts at 50. The tool colours the nearest land, skipping oceans and Antarctica. A point saved in the link takes priority over your device location.
Which population does the experiment use?
The default is 8.30 billion people: the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium projection for 1 July 2026. It is a value for a particular date, not a live counter. You can restore the UN value or set a population scenario of up to 20 billion people.
How is the area calculated, and would it be enough to live on?
Population is divided by density. At the default population and 600 people per km², the result is about 13.83 million km². Only land in the simplified map counts towards this area, excluding oceans and Antarctica. If the required area exceeds the available land, all of it is coloured and the shortfall is shown. The calculation does not assess living conditions or provide for food, energy and infrastructure.
Why does the same area look different on different maps?
Projections change how a spherical surface appears on a flat screen. Equal Earth preserves area proportions, while Mercator enlarges places nearer the poles. Switching projection changes neither the selected point nor the density or land area in the experiment. The globe shows part of Earth, and interrupted projections may split the coloured land on screen.
Why do country shares not cover the entire world population?
Shares include only countries and territories with both population and land-area data. Small countries without a separate outline at this map scale still count if they have data. The UN world population used in the experiment is a separate aggregate.
What is the average population density of the world?
According to the World Bank, the world average was about 62.1 people per km² of land in 2023. It is population divided by total land area, not the arithmetic mean of individual country densities. The experiment's 600 people per km² is a scenario setting. The separate map-based reference uses the UN population for 2026 and the simplified map's land geometry outside Antarctica.
Where is population density highest in the world?
Among sovereign states, Monaco has the highest average population density. The data used on this page give about 18,398 people per km² of land (population: 2025; land area: 2023). This is a whole-country average, not a record for a city or neighbourhood. Territories such as Macao, a special administrative region of China, belong to a different comparison. The linked ranking lists the countries and territories available in our dataset.
Where is population density lowest in the world?
Among sovereign states, Mongolia has the lowest average population density: about 2.29 people per km² of land (population: 2025; land area: 2023). Including territories, Greenland has a lower value in our dataset: about 0.14 people per km² of land (population: 2025; land area: 2023). The statistical land area used for Greenland in this indicator is not its entire territorial area. Uninhabited parts of deserts and polar regions are not separate countries in this comparison.
What is the average population density of Europe?
For the UN statistical region of Europe, which includes all of Russia, UNData reports 33.7 people per km² in 2025. Its extent differs from the geographical continent and from the European Union. The figure therefore should not be assigned to a geographical outline of Europe or compared directly with a value using different boundaries. The country map shows density per km² of land, rather than this UNData regional indicator.