5.6 Population density

Population is often examined in proportion to the surface area of the country. In this way populations living in areas of different size can be compared. The figure obtained is called population density. Population density is calculated per square kilometre (km²). Either the total area contained inside the borders of the country (including water systems) or land area is used.

When water systems are included in the surface area, population density is lower than when calculated against the land area only. It must be remembered that population density may in some case be biased if the country has many uninhabitable mountainous areas or deserts.

At the moment the population density of Finland calculated by total area is 15 persons per km², while in the Netherlands it is 378 persons per km² and in Monaco, 22,000 persons per km². Among countries with over one million population, Mongolia is the most sparsely populated, 1.7 persons per km².

The population density in the world's most populous country, China, is 132 persons per km² and in the second most populous country, India, 300 persons per km². The majority of the Chinese live in an area covering nearly one third of the country's area. In India the size of uninhabitable area is considerably smaller.

Population data and many other statistics are available by country on Statistics Finland's World in Figures pages at: http://www.stat.fi/tup/maanum/index_en.html.