Population Density Distribution by Country and Subdivisions (based on 1x1km grid cells)
September 17, 2024
Population Density Distribution by Country and Subdivisions (based on 1x1km grid cells)
Posted by mrpaninoshouse
3 comments
The data came from GHS global population estimates for year 2020 [link](https://human-settlement.emergency.copernicus.eu/ghs_pop2023.php). It divides the world into 1x1km grid cells and calculates the population density for each cell. I group the population into buckets based on their population density. For example 4.77% of the US’s population lives in cells with population density under 25/km2, and at the high end 0.5% live in cells with density over 25000/km2 – all from New York City. Most people live in cells that are higher density than the country/region’s average, as the saying goes “people live in cities” (true for most places).
I defined rural as under 250/km2 and urban as over 2500/km2, but what is perceived as urban, suburban or rural vary from region to region and also depends on the size of the city or metro area, which is not taken into account here.
Graphs are sorted by density, for subnational divisions they are sorted by country first. I did not include some smaller countries and subnational divisions as the graph is already crowded, can take requests if you are interested. The data is available for less developed countries but may be less reliable there.
If you ever look at a map of Hong Kong you will notice 80% of the land is actually completely undeveloped. Some of that is obviously due to mountainous terrain, but the bigger issue is that the government actually owns all the land and makes its money by leasing that land out. This means the government has a strong incentive to drive property coats as high as possible by intentionally not developing all off the open land. The insane density and poor living conditions for the cities poor are entirely the result of the government intentionally acting to constrain the supply of housing.
seoul and South korea, surprisingly uncrowded for a city and country of its statistical population density.
3 comments
The data came from GHS global population estimates for year 2020 [link](https://human-settlement.emergency.copernicus.eu/ghs_pop2023.php). It divides the world into 1x1km grid cells and calculates the population density for each cell. I group the population into buckets based on their population density. For example 4.77% of the US’s population lives in cells with population density under 25/km2, and at the high end 0.5% live in cells with density over 25000/km2 – all from New York City. Most people live in cells that are higher density than the country/region’s average, as the saying goes “people live in cities” (true for most places).
I defined rural as under 250/km2 and urban as over 2500/km2, but what is perceived as urban, suburban or rural vary from region to region and also depends on the size of the city or metro area, which is not taken into account here.
Graphs are sorted by density, for subnational divisions they are sorted by country first. I did not include some smaller countries and subnational divisions as the graph is already crowded, can take requests if you are interested. The data is available for less developed countries but may be less reliable there.
If you ever look at a map of Hong Kong you will notice 80% of the land is actually completely undeveloped. Some of that is obviously due to mountainous terrain, but the bigger issue is that the government actually owns all the land and makes its money by leasing that land out. This means the government has a strong incentive to drive property coats as high as possible by intentionally not developing all off the open land. The insane density and poor living conditions for the cities poor are entirely the result of the government intentionally acting to constrain the supply of housing.
seoul and South korea, surprisingly uncrowded for a city and country of its statistical population density.