Despite what the song "It's a Small World" tells us, the world is quite big. We've managed to squeeze eight billion people into it, and that's impressive—bordering on alarming. There's also a lot to know about this population: where they're all located, how they're distributed, and where else you could fit them if you're feeling creative. If you've never considered how fun it is to learn facts about population density, get ready!
10. Loch Ness could accommodate the entire world's population several times over.
Scotland is famous for kilts, haggis, and the lake monster. However, Loch Ness isn't just a potential home for a prehistoric monster that only appears in blurry photographs. In fact, it could be a home for everyone.
One of the perceived challenges of finding the monster is that the lake is so big. To put it more tangibly, the lake contains 268 billion cubic feet of water. It's about 800 feet deep and covers 22 square miles. This means that every person in the world could fit in the space the lake occupies. And then you could do this. nine more times . Previously, when the population was a modest 7.3 billion people, it could have accommodated 15 times more. .
Now, if you're ever unsure whether there's a monster in the lake, just remember what kind of space you're dealing with.
9. Kowloon Walled City had the most densely populated area in the world.
We'll get to densely populated cities soon, but we don't want to overlook the most densely populated city in history, which existed until 1994, when it was finally destroyed. You can imagine people were annoyed.
Kowloon Walled City existed within Hong Kong and, as the name suggests, it was a city within a wall. Buildings were stacked on top of each other, creating a bizarre, dystopian society of sci-fi proportions. 33,000 people lived in the space of a single city block in Kowloon. The density was 1.2 million people per square kilometer, or 3.2 million people per square mile. Compare this to New York City's population density of just over 25,000 people per square mile. .
Kowloon, once a fortress, never came under British rule in Hong Kong. As a result, a lawless land emerged where residents could build whatever they wanted, however they wanted. Without any rules, people would build adjacent houses, tear down walls when necessary, and continue to move in and out. People inevitably found themselves cut off from the outside world, trapped amid patchwork structures with a maze of dilapidated corridors and staircases to reach the open air.
When Britain and China finally agreed on what to do with the site, some residents had to be evicted by force before everything was demolished and replaced with public spaces such as gardens and parks to help beautify the area.
8. Switzerland has a nuclear shelter for its entire population.
It's safe to say that no one wants to live through a nuclear war, but if it does happen, you hope there's a way to survive it. People have sometimes built their own fallout shelters in the past, and governments keep some in reserve in case the world goes to hell. But what about the rest of us?
If you live in Switzerland, don't worry. The entire country's population can be housed in fallout shelters, because the Swiss are well prepared. Swiss law requires building owners to have a fallout shelter that can accommodate all residents. This applies to both private homes and apartment buildings, so no one will be left behind.
By 2006, Switzerland had 300,000 shelters in homes, plus another 5,100 public shelters. This is enough to allow 8.6 million people, or 1,141,000 people, to safely hunker down and take cover. Their next closest competitor, Sweden, has space for only 811,000 people.
Since everyone has them and no one has yet needed to use them, many fallout shelters have now been converted into wine cellars. But they could still be used for their intended purpose if the time comes when the entire population can be safely stored to survive a nuclear winter.
7. The people of Whittier, Alaska, live in one building.
Alaska is a beautiful part of the world, but at certain times of year it's not the most hospitable place. Travel far enough north, and you might find yourself stuck in sub-zero temperatures with no sun for days on end. However, people still find ways to survive, like in Whittier.
The tiny town of Whittier has only one access road, which is often inaccessible in winter due to 22 feet of annual snowfall. The tunnel has only one lane and is closed at night, leaving the only way in through the sea. Weather conditions can also make this impossible. Residents live almost exclusively in a single building.
Nearly 200 people live in a single 14-story building, which was once a military barracks. Besides the houses, it houses the town post office, a bed and breakfast, a grocery store, and a police station. Children can access the local school through an underground tunnel.
6. In Finland, anyone can join forces and visit a sauna at the same time.
Finland is full of saunas. They love saunas there. Fins have saunas like Canadians have donut shops. I can't get enough of them. The entire country's population is about 5.5 million, but there are three million saunas. .
If you're unsure or think it means something different in Finland, a sauna is a very hot, steamy room where you undress except for a towel or swimsuit, sit down, and that's it. You can be alone, with friends, and often with strangers. Just sweaty, almost naked, in a hot, steamy room. You might even rub a stranger's back if they ask.
Some flippers enjoy shaking things up by leaving the hot sauna and running out into the snow on a winter day, or even diving into icy water, but that's not really part of the sauna experience.
Apartment buildings have saunas, and even large businesses will have them on site. Judging by the numbers, there are enough for everyone in the country to bring a friend and enjoy a sauna for two at a time, with plenty of room left over for people from abroad.
5. If Manhattan had the same population density as Alaska, there would be 29 people living there.
To get a better idea of how population density varies across the country, we can compare two places in a silly way, as we'll do here. Manhattan in New York City has a very high population density—about 70,000 people per square mile for the 1.6 million people who live there. This means Manhattan covers an area of about 22.83 square miles. .
On the other hand, the state of Alaska has a population density of 1.28 residents per square mile. This means that if Manhattan had the same density as Alaska, there would be only about 29 people living there. And each of them would have a lot of truly prime real estate.
4. Le Lignon is an apartment building with a population density similar to Manhattan.
Speaking of Manhattan, there's a building in Switzerland called La Lignon, which shares some similarities with the famous New York borough. Both have roughly the same population density.
Built in the late 1960s, Le Lignon isn't a particularly attractive structure, but it has a strangely Euro-dystopian feel to it, tying into what turned out to be one of the largest housing projects ever built. It's a gigantic, kilometer-long complex housing 6,800 tenants in 2,780 apartments. .
Built in response to the housing crisis, some residents love the building, while outsiders consider the 10-million-square-foot monstrosity an eyesore. And while it may look unsightly from the outside, inside, some residents appreciate the pleasant views and spacious homes, as well as the sense of community that comes from living in a city-sized building.
The massive building is surrounded by identical towers, and its design allows for a variety of facilities, including schools, shops, a medical center, and a rooftop pool. A four-room apartment, if you can find one, costs around 2,000 Swiss francs per month, or about $2,300 US.
3. The Canadian territory of Nunavut has the lowest population density of any state or province in the world.
We already know that Alaska has a very low population density, but it's by no means a contender for the crown. When it comes to sparse population, and for that matter the population of any adopted subdivision of a country, such as a province or state, Nunavut in Canada wins the award. It's even less densely populated than Greenland.
Located in Northern Canada, the territory of Nunavut, with its capital Iqaluit, has a population density of 0.02 people per square kilometre (0.05 per square mile), which is often rounded to 0. In Greenland, this figure rises to 0.14.
Nunavut's capital has a population of just 7,740. The entire territory has a population of just under 37,000. This is despite its 808,000 square miles, making it larger than Alaska, more than three times the size of Texas, and nearly five times the size of California.
2. Friendship Heights, Maryland, is the most populous town in the United States.
If you had to guess which place in the United States is the most densely populated, you'd probably be inclined to guess one of the major cities, like New York or Los Angeles. But that's misleading, because while the population is large, the space is also vast. Therefore, the overall density isn't all that high.
The true winner of the population density crown goes to the modest town of Friendship Heights Village in Maryland. In 2020, its population was 5,360. Not impressive, right? But geographically, the town is so small that the population density is 90,847.5 people per square mile, given that the town's area is only 0.06 square miles. .
In 2021, the population has dropped slightly, so density is a little better, but overall the city still leaves every other place in America in the dust.
1. In the slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh, the population density can exceed 2 million per square mile.
We've seen the incredible population density of Kowloon Walled City, but today there may still be places that approach similar levels. Not entire cities, but at least parts of them, such as the slums of Dhaka in Bangladesh, where the population density is estimated to reach 2.7 million people per square mile.
Even the lowest estimates put the rate at 115,000 per square mile, higher than in places like Tokyo, Manila, and Mumbai. Others have calculated it at 569,000 per square mile or 220,000 per square kilometer. Part of the problem with obtaining consistent figures is that these are slums, which are unevenly distributed and not open to census surveys. There's no real way to count how many people live in such a place, as many dwellings are barely homes, and residents often don't want to be questioned.