What is population density?

Population density is the number of people living in an area. Population density is usually expressed as the number of people living within a square kilometre. It can be used on a range of scales from continents to areas within a country. It is calculated by dividing the population of an area by its total area.

Calculating population density

The map below shows population density by country between 1961 and 2017. From the map, it is clear that population density in some regions has increased as the population has grown. It is also clear that population density is uneven, with some regions, such as Western Europe, being densely populated and others, such as Australia being sparsely populated.