Monaco led the ranking for countries with the highest population density in 2024, with nearly 26,000 residents per square kilometer. The Special Administrative Region of Macao came in second, followed by Singapore. The world’s second smallest country Monaco is the world’s second-smallest country, with an area of about two square kilometers and a population of only around 40,000. It is a constitutional monarchy located by the Mediterranean Sea, and while Monaco is not part of the European Union, it does participate in some EU policies. The country is perhaps most famous for the Monte Carlo casino and for hosting the Monaco Grand Prix, the world's most prestigious Formula One race. The global population Globally, the population density per square kilometer is about 60 inhabitants, and Asia is the most densely populated region in the world. The global population is increasing rapidly, so population density is only expected to increase. In 1950, for example, the global population stood at about 2.54 billion people, and it reached over eight billion during 2023.

In 2023, Washington, D.C. had the highest population density in the United States, with 11,130.69 people per square mile. As a whole, there were about 94.83 residents per square mile in the U.S., and Alaska was the state with the lowest population density, with 1.29 residents per square mile. The problem of population density Simply put, population density is the population of a country divided by the area of the country. While this can be an interesting measure of how many people live in a country and how large the country is, it does not account for the degree of urbanization, or the share of people who live in urban centers. For example, Russia is the largest country in the world and has a comparatively low population, so its population density is very low. However, much of the country is uninhabited, so cities in Russia are much more densely populated than the rest of the country. Urbanization in the United States While the United States is not very densely populated compared to other countries, its population density has increased significantly over the past few decades. The degree of urbanization has also increased, and well over half of the population lives in urban centers.

As of July 2023, Monaco is the country with the highest population density worldwide, with an estimated population of nearly ****** per square kilometer.

Mogadishu in Somalia led the ranking of cities with the highest population density in 2023, with ****** residents per square kilometer. When it comes to countries, Monaco is the most densely populated state worldwide.

As of 2025, Asia was the most densely populated region of the world, with nearly 156 inhabitants per square kilometer, whereas Oceania's population density was just over five inhabitants per square kilometer.

Descriptive statistics for the population size and geographic range data by sociopolitical level.

The average for 2021 based on 12 countries was 25 people per square km. The highest value was in Ecuador: 72 people per square km and the lowest value was in Guyana: 4 people per square km. The indicator is available from 1961 to 2021. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This map shows four of these densely populated areas are in California. The San Francisco-Oakland and San Jose Urban Areas rank second and third, respectively. That the New York Metropolitan area ranks fifth on this list shows that this density ranking is greatly affected by the nature of the land area designated as urban. Census Urban Areas comprise an urban core and associated suburbs. California's urban and suburban areas are more uniform in density when compared to New York's urban core and suburban periphery which have vastly different densities. Delano ranks fourth because it has a very small land area and its population is augmented by two large California State Prisons housing 10,000 inmates.

India's total population reached nearly **** billion people as of 2023, making the country by far the most populous throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Contrastingly, Micronesia had a total population of around *** thousand people in the same year. The demographics of APAC Asia-Pacific, made up of many different countries and regions, is the most populated region across the globe. Being home to a significant number of megacities, and with the population ever-increasing, the region is unsurprisingly expected to have the largest urban population by 2050. However, as of 2021, the majority of Asia-Pacific countries had rural populations greater than ** percent.  Population densities Despite China being the most populated country across the region, it fell in the middle of Asia-Pacific regions in terms of population density. On the other hand, Macao, Singapore, and Hong Kong all had the highest population densities across the Asia-Pacific region. These three Asia-Pacific regions also ranked among the top four densest populations worldwide.   

A population ecumene is the area of inhabited lands or settled areas generally delimited by a minimum population density. This ecumene shows the areas of the densest and most extended population within census divisions. Census divisions are the provincially legislated areas (such as county, municipalité régionale de comté, and regional district) or their equivalents. Census divisions are intermediate geographic areas between the province or territory level and the municipality (census subdivision). For further information, consult the Statistics Canada’s 2016 Illustrated Glossary (see below under Data Resources). The assemblage of dissemination area population density data from the 2016 Census of Population are used to form the ecumene within census divisions. Areas included in the ecumene are dissemination areas where the population density is greater than or equal to 0.4 persons per square kilometre or about one person per square mile. In some areas to capture more population within the ecumene the criteria was extended to 0.2 persons per square kilometre. The ecumene areas were generalized in certain areas to enhance the size of some isolated ecumene areas in northern Canada. This map can be used as an “ecumene” overlay to differentiate the sparsely populated areas from the ecumene in conjunction with census division data or other small-scale maps. This ecumene shows a more meaningful distribution of the population for Canada.

This graph shows the population density of the United States of America from 1790 to 2019. In 2019, the population density was approximately 92.9 residents per square mile of land area. Population density in the United States Population density has been tracked for over two hundred years in the United States. Over the last two centuries, the number of people living in the United States per square mile has grown from 4.5 in 1790 to 87.4 in 2010. After examining the data in detail, it becomes clear that a major population increase started around 1870. Population density was roughly 11 at the time and has doubled in the last century. Since then, population density grew by about 16 percent each decade. Population density doubled in 1900, and grew in total by around 800 percent until 2010.

The population density of the United States varies from state to state. The most densely populated state is New Jersey, with 1,208 people per square mile living there. Rhode Island is the second most densely populated state, with slightly over 1,000 inhabitants per square mile. A number of New England states follow at the top of the ranking, making the northeastern region of the United States the most densely populated region of the country.

The least populated U.S. state is the vast territory of Alaska. Only 1.3 inhabitants per square mile reside in the largest state of the U.S.

Compared to other countries around the world, the United States does not rank within the top 50, in terms of population density. Most of the leading countries and territories are city states. However, the U.S. is one of the most populous countries in the world, with a total population of over 327 million inhabitants, as of 2018.

Summary of the fixed effects in the spatial mixed-effects model (cross-validated test R2 = 0.67 (training R2 = 0.98) with effective d.f. = 401.46; see OSM for full results).

A population ecumene is the area of inhabited lands or settled areas generally delimited by a minimum population density. This ecumene shows the areas of the densest and most extended population within census subdivisions. A census subdivision (CSD) is the general term for municipalities (as determined by provincial or territorial legislation) or areas treated as municipal equivalents for statistical purposes (e.g., Indigenous Peoples reserves and communities and unorganized territories). Municipal status is defined by laws in effect in each province and territory in Canada. For further information, consult the Statistics Canada’s 2016 Illustrated Glossary (see below under Data Resources). The assemblage of dissemination block population density data from the 2016 Census of Population are used to form the ecumene areas within census subdivisions. Areas included in the ecumene are dissemination blocks where the population density is greater than or equal to 0.4 persons per square kilometre or about one person per square mile. In some areas to capture more population within the ecumene the criteria was extended to 0.2 persons per square kilometre. The ecumene areas were generalized in certain areas to remove small uninhabited areas within the ecumene areas in census subdivisions. This map can be used as an “ecumene” overlay to differentiate the sparsely populated areas from the ecumene in conjunction with census subdivision data or other large-scale maps. This ecumene shows a more meaningful distribution of the population for Canada.

Data submitted in fulfillment of a 2008 Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative grant.

Paper Abstract: We counted and measured Sphodros rufipes (Latreille 1829) pursewebs in two survey plots on Tuckernuck Island, Massachusetts. Tuckernuck is 50 Km south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and is entirely owned by private landowners or conservation organizations; biological research activities are supported and encouraged by residents on a limited basis. Our objectives were to quantify web density and determine the main components of the S. rufipes diet. We counted 479 webs in the two plots and report web densities between 0.058 and 0.18 webs/m²; denser than previously reported populations. Contrary to most previously published literature on S. rufipes, we noted the predominance of the grass-like sedge, Carex pensylvanica, rather than trees, as a web support. However, we also offer the first report of S. rufipes using a conifer (Pinus rigida) as a web support. Coleopterans and isopods made up 79 percent of the prey parts collected from 56 pursewebs. We suggest that the Tuckernuck population offers an opportunity to collect important long-term demographic data.

Datasets:
sphodrosWebLocations.csv - data from two specific areas
sphodrosSpiderMeasurements.csv - measurements of live spiders borrowed from their webs
sphodrosRandomWebLocations.csv - data for webs found by happenstance
sphodrosDiet.csv - diet data from body parts collected from Sphodros webs
sphodrosDataDictionary.csv

The Indigenous Populations of Canada map is derived from the CanEcumene 2.0 Geodatabase using custom tabulations of census-based population data. Indigenous communities within the level of the census sub-division (CSD) were identified using a combination of sources from census field data (see Eddy et. al. 2020 for more details). This map shows the percent of Indigenous population in CanEcumene 2.0 communities using graduated symbols, overlaid upon a population density raster. The larger the symbol, the higher the percentage of Indigenous population in that area. The darker the colour in the underlying raster, the denser is the general population. This map illustrates how the majority of Indigenous populations reside in locations outside of the denser populated areas of Canada.

A population ecumene is the area of inhabited lands or settled areas generally delimited by a minimum population density. This ecumene shows the areas of the densest and most extended population within census subdivisions. A census subdivision (CSD) is the general term for municipalities (as determined by provincial or territorial legislation) or areas treated as municipal equivalents for statistical purposes (e.g., Indigenous Peoples reserves and communities and unorganized territories). Municipal status is defined by laws in effect in each province and territory in Canada. For further information, consult the Statistics Canada’s 2016 Illustrated Glossary (see below under Data Resources). The assemblage of dissemination block population density data from the 2016 Census of Population are used to form the ecumene areas within census subdivisions. Areas included in the ecumene are dissemination blocks where the population density is greater than or equal to 0.4 persons per square kilometre or about one person per square mile. In some areas to capture more population within the ecumene the criteria was extended to 0.2 persons per square kilometre. The ecumene areas were generalized in certain areas to remove small uninhabited areas within the ecumene areas in census subdivisions. This map can be used as an “ecumene” overlay to differentiate the sparsely populated areas from the ecumene in conjunction with census subdivision data or other large-scale maps. This ecumene shows a more meaningful distribution of the population for Canada.

As of 2023, the top five most densely populated cities in Latin America and the Caribbean were in Colombia. The capital, Bogotá, ranked first with over 18,241 inhabitants per square kilometer.

A population ecumene is the area of inhabited lands or settled areas generally delimited by a minimum population density. This ecumene shows the areas of the densest and most extended population within census divisions. Census divisions are the provincially legislated areas (such as county, municipalité régionale de comté, and regional district) or their equivalents. Census divisions are intermediate geographic areas between the province or territory level and the municipality (census subdivision). For further information, consult the Statistics Canada’s 2016 Illustrated Glossary (see below under Data Resources). The assemblage of dissemination area population density data from the 2016 Census of Population are used to form the ecumene within census divisions. Areas included in the ecumene are dissemination areas where the population density is greater than or equal to 0.4 persons per square kilometre or about one person per square mile. In some areas to capture more population within the ecumene the criteria was extended to 0.2 persons per square kilometre. The ecumene areas were generalized in certain areas to enhance the size of some isolated ecumene areas in northern Canada. This map can be used as an “ecumene” overlay to differentiate the sparsely populated areas from the ecumene in conjunction with census division data or other small-scale maps. This ecumene shows a more meaningful distribution of the population for Canada.

In this dataset we present two maps that estimate the location and population served by domestic wells in the contiguous United States. The first methodology, called the “Block Group Method” or BGM, builds upon the original block-group data from the 1990 census (the last time the U.S. Census queried the population regarding their source of water) by incorporating higher resolution census block data. The second methodology, called the “Road-Enhanced Method” or REM, refines the locations by using a buffer expansion and shrinkage technique along roadways to define areas where domestic wells exist. The fundamental assumption with this method is that houses (and therefore domestic wells) are located near a named road. The results are presented as two nationally consistent domestic-well population datasets. While both methods can be considered valid, the REM map is more precise in locating domestic wells; the REM map had a smaller amount of spatial bias (nearly equal vs biased in type 1 error), total error (10.9% vs 23.7%,), and distance error (2.0 km vs 2.7 km), when comparing the REM and BGM maps to a California calibration map. However, the BGM map is more inclusive of all potential locations for domestic wells. The primary difference in the BGM and the REM is the mapping of low density areas. The REM has a 57% reduction in areas mapped as low density (populations greater than 0 but less than 1 person per km), concentrating populations into denser regions. Therefore, if one is trying to capture all of the potential areas of domestic-well usage, then the BGM map may be more applicable. If location is more imperative, then the REM map is better at identifying areas of the landscape with the highest probability of finding a domestic well. Depending on the purpose of a study, a combination of both maps can be used. For space concerns, the datasets have been divided into two separate geodatabases. The BGM map geodatabase and the REM map database.

A dataset listing New York cities by population for 2024.