Only 5% of the world’s population lives in the entire blue region. For comparison, the same number of people live in the small red region.
Update: What this map looks like as an equal area projection, and why it would have been a poor choice
Believe it or not, it’s true. There are just as many people living in the small red area as there are living in all the blue areas combined.
This is a modified version of a map from reddit user Ibisdigitalmedia. When I first came across the original map, via the awesome Twitter feed of @NinjaEconomics, I was skeptical, so I went through and checked the numbers.
The original map turned out not to be entirely correct (the red region covered only about 3% of the world population), so I made this one from scratch based on the same concept.
Notice that the blue region covers more than just uninhabited deserts and tundras. It encompasses several prominent, powerful countries, including Australia, Ireland, Canada, and Saudi Arabia.
Can you identify the two countries within the red region?
The table below shows the full list of territories covered by each region, along with their 2014 populations.
For a related post, see: How Many U.S. Cities Can You Fit Inside Greater Tokyo?
For it’s size, Tokyo has the highest population density in the world.
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Blue region
Country | Region | Population |
---|---|---|
Lithuania | All | 3,173,000 |
Estonia | All | 1,338,000 |
Norway | All | 4,985,000 |
Sweden | All | 9,437,000 |
Finland | All | 5,408,000 |
Latvia | All | 2,210,000 |
Australia | All | 22,280,000 |
Fiji | All | 828,046 |
Kazakhstan | All | 16,137,000 |
Mongolia | All | 2,809,000 |
New Caledonia | All | 266,000 |
Norfolk Island | All | 2,169 |
New Zealand | All | 4,436,000 |
Papua New Guinea | All | 7,440,000 |
Turkmenistan | All | 5,411,000 |
Republic of the Congo | All | 3,609,851 |
Central African Republic | All | 4,191,429 |
Gabon | All | 1,597,000 |
Oman | All | 3,110,000 |
Botswana | All | 2,068,000 |
Somalia | All | 10,295,000 |
Namibia | All | 2,352,000 |
Zambia | All | 14,440,000 |
Greenland | All | 57,475 |
Canada | All | 35,010,000 |
Uruguay | All | 3,412,000 |
Iceland | All | 347,000 |
Belize | All | 335,000 |
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya | All | 5,918,217 |
Mauritania | All | 3,623,000 |
Suriname | All | 540,000 |
Guyana | All | 757,000 |
French Guiana | All | 250,377 |
Western Sahara | All | 507,160 |
Mali | All | 14,478,000 |
Niger | All | 18,124,000 |
Saudi Arabia | All | 28,123,000 |
Bolivia | All | 10,610,000 |
Paraguay | All | 6,844,000 |
Chad | All | 12,620,000 |
Ireland | All | 4,804,000 |
Svalbard | All | 2,642 |
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) | All | 3,000 |
Vanuatu | All | 267,000 |
Solomon Islands | All | 472,419 |
Kiribati | All | 102,351 |
Galapagos | All | 25,000 |
Bahamas | All | 360,000 |
French Southern and Antarctic Lands | All | 0 |
South Georgia South Sandwich Islands | All | 0 |
Palau | All | 20,918 |
Micronesia | All | 103,549 |
Guam | All | 165,124 |
Northern Mariana Islands | All | 53,855 |
Greece | Crete | 620,000 |
Cyprus | All | 911,000 |
France | Corsica | 322,000 |
United States | Alaska | 736,732 |
United States | Wyoming | 584,153 |
United States | Montana | 1,023,579 |
United States | North Dakota | 739,482 |
United States | South Dakota | 853,175 |
United States | Idaho | 1,634,464 |
United States | Nebraska | 1,881,503 |
United States | Utah | 2,942,902 |
United States | Kansas | 2,904,021 |
Russia | Northwestern Federal District | 13,583,800 |
Russia | Far Eastern Federal District | 6,291,900 |
Russia | Siberian Federal District | 19,254,300 |
Russia | Ural Federal District | 12,082,700 |
China | Qinghai | 5,626,722 |
China | Tibet | 3,002,166 |
Brazil | Roraima | 496,936 |
Brazil | Amazonas | 3,873,743 |
Brazil | Mato Grosso | 3,224,357 |
Brazil | Acre | 790,101 |
Brazil | Amapá | 750,912 |
Brazil | Tocantins | 1,496,880 |
Brazil | Pará | 8,073,924 |
Brazil | Rondônia | 1,748,531 |
Brazil | Mato Grosso do Sul | 2,619,657 |
Argentina | Catamarca | 367,820 |
Argentina | Chaco | 1,053,466 |
Argentina | Chubut | 506,668 |
Argentina | Corrientes | 993,338 |
Argentina | Formosa | 527,895 |
Argentina | Jujuy | 672,260 |
Argentina | La Pampa | 316,940 |
Argentina | La Rioja | 331,847 |
Argentina | Mendoza | 1,741,610 |
Argentina | Neuquén | 550,334 |
Argentina | Río Negro | 633,374 |
Argentina | Salta | 1,215,207 |
Argentina | San Juan | 680,427 |
Argentina | San Luis | 431,588 |
Argentina | Santa Cruz | 272,524 |
Argentina | Santiago del Estero | 896,461 |
Argentina | Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur | 126,190 |
Chile | Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena | 159,152 |
Chile | Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo | 98,413 |
Chile | Los Lagos | 785,169 |
Sudan | Western Equatoria | 740,000 |
Sudan | Western Bahar el Ghazal | 220,000 |
Sudan | Northern Darfur | 1,600,000 |
Sudan | Western Darfur | 1,660,000 |
Sudan | Southern Darfur | 2,960,000 |
Sudan | Northern State | 610,000 |
Egypt | New Valley | 219,615 |
Red region
Country | Region | Population |
---|---|---|
Bangladesh | All | 172,019,000 |
India | Bihar | 99,000,000 |
India | Jharkhand | 32,000,000 |
India | West Bengal | 90,320,000 |
If you want to work through the data yourself, you can download it here in CSV format.


Max Galka
More about my background
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