Least Densely Populated Countries (2026)
Mongolia is among the least densely populated countries with just 2 people per square kilometer. These countries often have vast wilderness, desert, or tundra that makes large portions of their territory uninhabitable.
| Rank | Country | Density |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mongolia | 2/km² |
| 2 |  Western Sahara | 2/km² |
| 3 |  French Guiana | 3/km² |
| 4 |  Canada | 4/km² |
| 5 |  Australia | 4/km² |
| 6 |  Libya | 4/km² |
| 7 |  Namibia | 4/km² |
| 8 |  Botswana | 4/km² |
| 9 |  Guyana | 4/km² |
| 10 |  Suriname | 4/km² |
| 11 |  Iceland | 4/km² |
| 12 |  Mauritania | 5/km² |
| 13 |  Russia | 8/km² |
| 14 |  Kazakhstan | 8/km² |
| 15 |  Central African Republic | 9/km² |
| 16 |  Gabon | 9/km² |
| 17 |  Bolivia | 11/km² |
| 18 |  Norway | 14/km² |
| 19 |  Turkmenistan | 15/km² |
| 20 |  Argentina | 16/km² |
| 21 |  Saudi Arabia | 16/km² |
| 22 |  Chad | 16/km² |
| 23 |  New Caledonia | 16/km² |
| 24 |  Paraguay | 17/km² |
| 25 |  Finland | 17/km² |
| 26 |  Oman | 17/km² |
| 27 |  Belize | 18/km² |
| 28 |  South Sudan | 19/km² |
| 29 |  Republic of the Congo | 19/km² |
| 30 |  Uruguay | 19/km² |
| 31 |  Åland Islands | 19/km² |
| 32 |  Algeria | 20/km² |
| 33 |  Mali | 20/km² |
| 34 |  New Zealand | 20/km² |
| 35 |  Niger | 21/km² |
| 36 |  Bhutan | 21/km² |
| 37 |  Papua New Guinea | 23/km² |
| 38 |  Sweden | 23/km² |
| 39 |  Brazil | 25/km² |
| 40 |  Chile | 26/km² |
| 41 |  Sudan | 27/km² |
| 42 |  Peru | 27/km² |
| 43 |  Vanuatu | 27/km² |
| 44 |  Zambia | 28/km² |
| 45 |  Solomon Islands | 28/km² |
| 46 |  Latvia | 29/km² |
| 47 |  Bahamas | 29/km² |
| 48 |  Angola | 30/km² |
| 49 |  Somalia | 30/km² |
| 50 |  Eritrea | 30/km² |
| 51 |  Estonia | 30/km² |
| 52 |  Venezuela | 31/km² |
| 53 |  Laos | 33/km² |
| 54 |  United States | 36/km² |
| 55 |  Kyrgyzstan | 36/km² |
| 56 |  Faroe Islands | 39/km² |
| 57 |  Mozambique | 43/km² |
| 58 |  Zimbabwe | 43/km² |
| 59 |  Belarus | 44/km² |
| 60 |  Lithuania | 44/km² |
| 61 |  Montenegro | 45/km² |
| 62 |  Colombia | 46/km² |
| 63 |  DR Congo | 47/km² |
| 64 |  Liberia | 50/km² |
| 65 |  Djibouti | 50/km² |
| 66 |  Fiji | 51/km² |
| 67 |  South Africa | 52/km² |
| 68 |  Nicaragua | 53/km² |
| 69 |  Georgia | 53/km² |
| 70 |  Madagascar | 54/km² |
| 71 |  Iran | 56/km² |
| 72 |  Bulgaria | 58/km² |
| 73 |  Guinea | 60/km² |
| 74 |  Panama | 60/km² |
| 75 |  Cameroon | 61/km² |
| 76 |  Guinea-Bissau | 61/km² |
| 77 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | 62/km² |
| 78 |  Ukraine | 63/km² |
| 79 |  Afghanistan | 65/km² |
| 80 |  Ecuador | 66/km² |
| 81 |  Mexico | 67/km² |
| 82 |  Equatorial Guinea | 67/km² |
| 83 |  Croatia | 68/km² |
| 84 |  French Polynesia | 68/km² |
| 85 |  Moldova | 71/km² |
| 86 |  North Macedonia | 71/km² |
| 87 |  Tanzania | 72/km² |
| 88 |  Eswatini | 72/km² |
| 89 |  Tajikistan | 74/km² |
| 90 |  Tunisia | 75/km² |
| 91 |  Yemen | 77/km² |
| 92 |  Ireland | 77/km² |
| 93 |  Lesotho | 77/km² |
| 94 |  Samoa | 77/km² |
| 95 |  Greece | 79/km² |
| 96 |  Romania | 80/km² |
| 97 |  Brunei | 80/km² |
| 98 |  Myanmar | 81/km² |
| 99 |  Uzbekistan | 81/km² |
| 100 |  Albania | 83/km² |
| 101 |  Morocco | 85/km² |
| 102 |  Serbia | 85/km² |
| 103 |  Burkina Faso | 86/km² |
| 104 |  Senegal | 94/km² |
| 105 |  Timor-Leste | 94/km² |
| 106 |  Honduras | 96/km² |
| 107 |  Kenya | 97/km² |
| 108 |  Spain | 97/km² |
| 109 |  Cambodia | 97/km² |
| 110 |  Ivory Coast | 99/km² |
| 111 |  Cuba | 100/km² |
| 112 |  Costa Rica | 100/km² |
| 113 |  Armenia | 102/km² |
| 114 |  Hungary | 103/km² |
| 115 |  Iraq | 105/km² |
| 116 |  Slovenia | 105/km² |
| 117 |  Malaysia | 107/km² |
| 118 |  Turkey | 109/km² |
| 119 |  Austria | 109/km² |
| 120 |  Slovakia | 111/km² |
| 121 |  Egypt | 116/km² |
| 122 |  Portugal | 116/km² |
| 123 |  Poland | 117/km² |
| 124 |  Azerbaijan | 118/km² |
| 125 |  Ethiopia | 120/km² |
| 126 |  Sierra Leone | 120/km² |
| 127 |  France | 126/km² |
| 128 |  Benin | 128/km² |
| 129 |  Jordan | 129/km² |
| 130 |  Cape Verde | 130/km² |
| 131 |  United Arab Emirates | 131/km² |
| 132 |  Syria | 133/km² |
| 133 |  Czechia | 138/km² |
| 134 |  Denmark | 139/km² |
| 135 |  Thailand | 140/km² |
| 136 |  Ghana | 144/km² |
| 137 |  China | 145/km² |
| 138 |  Kosovo | 146/km² |
| 139 |  Cyprus | 147/km² |
| 140 |  Indonesia | 149/km² |
| 141 |  Togo | 168/km² |
| 142 |  Guatemala | 169/km² |
| 143 |  Malawi | 183/km² |
| 144 |  Italy | 196/km² |
| 145 |  Nepal | 201/km² |
| 146 |  Uganda | 207/km² |
| 147 |  Switzerland | 218/km² |
| 148 |  North Korea | 220/km² |
| 149 |  Guadeloupe | 233/km² |
| 150 |  Germany | 234/km² |
| 151 |  Dominican Republic | 235/km² |
| 152 |  Qatar | 247/km² |
| 153 |  Nigeria | 252/km² |
| 154 |  Jamaica | 258/km² |
| 155 |  Gambia | 258/km² |
| 156 |  Luxembourg | 262/km² |
| 157 |  Trinidad and Tobago | 267/km² |
| 158 |  Kuwait | 275/km² |
| 159 |  United Kingdom | 283/km² |
| 160 |  El Salvador | 301/km² |
| 161 |  Vietnam | 305/km² |
| 162 |  Martinique | 310/km² |
| 163 |  Pakistan | 316/km² |
| 164 |  Japan | 328/km² |
| 165 |  Sri Lanka | 334/km² |
| 166 |  Philippines | 338/km² |
| 167 |  Réunion | 357/km² |
| 168 |  Puerto Rico | 361/km² |
| 169 |  Belgium | 388/km² |
| 170 |  Haiti | 424/km² |
| 171 |  Netherlands | 430/km² |
| 172 |  India | 441/km² |
| 173 |  Israel | 455/km² |
| 174 |  Comoros | 465/km² |
| 175 |  Burundi | 505/km² |
| 176 |  South Korea | 516/km² |
| 177 |  Rwanda | 541/km² |
| 178 |  Lebanon | 555/km² |
| 179 |  Mauritius | 611/km² |
| 180 |  Taiwan | 644/km² |
| 181 |  Palestine | 850/km² |
| 182 |  Bangladesh | 1,176/km² |
| 183 |  Hong Kong | 6,815/km² |
Where Are the Most Sparsely Populated Countries?
The least densely populated countries have vast territories with relatively small populations. Mongolia has just 2 people per km², while Western Sahara and French Guiana are similarly empty by global standards.
Northern countries have vast arctic or subarctic regions that are largely uninhabited. Desert nations have expanses of Saharan or Arabian desert with almost no permanent residents. Countries like Australia combine arid interiors with concentrated coastal populations.
Challenges of Governing Sparse Populations
Low density presents its own challenges. Providing public services — healthcare, education, infrastructure — across dispersed populations is expensive on a per-capita basis. Remote communities may have limited access to markets, leading to higher costs of living despite low land prices.
Even the least dense countries have cities and towns where people live at much higher densities. The national average is simply diluted by vast stretches of uninhabited territory. The density figures here are calculated by dividing total population by total land area in square kilometers.