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Curated list · 2026

Countries with the highest population density

Ranked by population density (people per km²), highest first.

This ranking measures people per square kilometer, dividing population by land area using World Bank and GeoNames data. Tiny city-states dominate, with Monaco, Singapore and Bahrain among the densest sovereign nations. For a nomad, high density means walkable, service-rich cities but also higher rents and less space, so read it against the cost-of-living lists.

#	Country	People / km²
1	Monaco	38,341
2	Singapore	8,831
3	Hong Kong	6,867
4	Gibraltar	6,688
5	Macau	2,700
6	Bahrain	2,407
7	Vatican City *	2,093
8	Malta	1,835
9	Maldives	1,766
10	Bangladesh	1,220
11	Bermuda	1,218
12	Guernsey	836
13	Jersey	783
14	Barbados	656
15	Taiwan	652
16	Mauritius	610
17	Aruba	564
18	Lebanon	562
19	San Marino	559
20	Rwanda	553
21	South Korea	525
22	Burundi	517
23	Israel	487
24	India	445
25	Netherlands	436
26	Belgium	391
27	Philippines	389
28	Curaçao	352
29	Puerto Rico	350
30	Grenada	341
31	Sri Lanka	332
32	Japan	327
33	Pakistan	317
34	Vietnam	308
35	El Salvador	303
36	Saint Lucia	292
37	Cayman Islands	289
38	United Kingdom	284
39	Kuwait	273
40	Seychelles	270
41	Trinidad and Tobago	267
42	Luxembourg	266
43	Qatar	260
44	British Virgin Islands	260
45	Jamaica	258
46	Nigeria	257
47	Liechtenstein	256
48	Gambia	250
49	Dominican Republic	236
50	Germany	234
51	Switzerland	220
52	Uganda	218
53	Antigua and Barbuda	213
54	Nepal	210
55	Italy	196
56	Malawi	188
57	St Kitts and Nevis	180
58	Andorra	177
59	Guatemala	172
60	Togo	151
61	Indonesia	149
62	Cyprus	148
63	Isle of Man	147
64	China	147
65	Ghana	146
66	Kosovo	145
67	United Arab Emirates	139
68	Thailand	139
69	Denmark	139
70	Tonga	139
71	Czech Republic	138
72	Benin	132
73	Cape Verde	131
74	Anguilla	130
75	France	126
76	Jordan	125
77	Sierra Leone	123
78	Ethiopia	120
79	Egypt	118
80	Azerbaijan	118
81	Portugal	117
82	Poland	117
83	Slovakia	111
84	Turkey	110
85	Austria	110
86	Malaysia	109
87	Turks and Caicos	109
88	Iraq	108
89	Slovenia	105
90	Armenia	104
91	Hungary	102
92	Costa Rica	101
93	Ivory Coast	101
94	Cuba	99
95	Cambodia	99
96	Kenya	99
97	Spain	98
98	Honduras	98
99	Senegal	96
100	Timor-Leste	95
101	Burkina Faso	88
102	Dominica	87
103	Morocco	86
104	Uzbekistan	83
105	Albania	82
106	Myanmar	81
107	Brunei	81
108	Romania	80
109	Greece	79
110	Lesotho	78
111	Ireland	78
112	Tajikistan	75
113	Tunisia	75
114	Tanzania	75
115	Serbia	74
116	Samoa	74
117	Eswatini	72
118	North Macedonia	72
119	Moldova	70
120	Equatorial Guinea	69
121	Croatia	69
122	Afghanistan	68
123	Mexico	67
124	Ecuador	65
125	Ukraine	65
126	Cameroon	63
127	Guinea-Bissau	62
128	Guinea	61
129	Bosnia and Herzegovina	61
130	Panama	58
131	Bulgaria	58
132	Iran	56
133	Madagascar	56
134	Georgia	56
135	Nicaragua	54
136	South Africa	53
137	Djibouti	51
138	Liberia	51
139	Fiji	51
140	DR Congo	48
141	Colombia	47
142	Belarus	44
143	Montenegro	44
144	Lithuania	44
145	Mozambique	44
146	Zimbabwe	43
147	Palau	39
148	Kyrgyzstan	37
149	United States	35
150	Laos	33
151	Somalia	31
152	Angola	31
153	Venezuela	31
154	Eritrea	30
155	Estonia	30
156	Latvia	29
157	Bahamas	29
158	Zambia	29
159	Sudan	28
160	Peru	27
161	Vanuatu	27
162	Chile	26
163	Oman	26
164	Brazil	25
165	Sweden	24
166	Papua New Guinea	23
167	Niger	22
168	Mali	20
169	New Zealand	20
170	Algeria	20
171	Republic of the Congo	19
172	South Sudan	19
173	Uruguay	19
174	Saudi Arabia	19
175	Belize	18
176	Paraguay	17
177	Argentina	17
178	Norway	17
179	Finland	17
180	Bhutan	17
181	Chad	16
182	Turkmenistan	16
183	Bolivia	11
184	Gabon	10
185	Central African Republic	9
186	Kazakhstan	8
187	Russia	8
188	Mauritania	5
189	Libya	4
190	Canada	4
191	Australia	4
192	Iceland	4
193	Namibia	4
194	Botswana	4
195	Guyana	4
196	Suriname	4
197	Mongolia	2

* Residence is not obtainable by ordinary applicants (for example, the Vatican grants residency only to clergy and Holy See employees).

Source: See the source note on each country page for the origin of every figure.

Frequently asked questions

Which country has the highest population density?

Among sovereign states, Monaco has the highest population density, with roughly 19,000 people per square kilometer. Singapore, Bahrain and the Maldives also rank very high. Some dependent territories, like Macao, are denser still but are not independent countries.

What is population density?

Population density is the average number of people living in a given area, usually expressed as people per square kilometer. It is calculated by dividing a country's total population by its land area. It shows how crowded a place is on average, though it hides big differences between cities and empty regions.

Why is Monaco so densely populated?

Monaco packs tens of thousands of residents into about 2 square kilometers of land on the French Riviera, leaving almost no room to spread out. Its status as a wealthy tax-friendly enclave draws high-net-worth residents into a tiny footprint. The result is the highest density of any sovereign state.

Which city has the highest population density?

City density figures vary by how boundaries are drawn, but places like Manila, Mumbai, Dhaka and parts of Kolkata regularly top the list at tens of thousands of people per square kilometer. City cores are far denser than national averages. Comparisons are tricky because some cities count only the central district and others the whole metro area.