The chart above shows the population density of EU member states. As Malta is such a small state, it is not surprising that its population density is so high, but what is surprising is how low Luxembourg's is.
Findings
- The difference between the most densely populated state, Malta, and the least, Finland, is 1,291 people per square kilometer.
- Malta is 82 times more densely populated than Finland.
- Every state is at least 75% as densely populated as the next more densely populated state except for Netherlands (31% population density of Malta), United Kingdom (74% population density of Belgium), Czech Republic (70% of Luxembourg), Lithuania (72% of Ireland), Latvia (66% of Lithuania), and Sweden (73% of Estonia).
- Malta is so densely populated that it takes sum of the population densities of Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy to rival it.
Caveats
- Area data is from 2007.
- Population data is from 2011.
- The area includes both land and water area.
- Population and area data are from different sources.
- The Southern EU consists of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, and Malta.
- The Western EU consists of Germany, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, and Luxembourg.
- The Eastern EU consists of Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
- The Northern EU consists of Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.
Details
Four of the five most populated states are in the Western EU. The Northern EU has the least densely populated states.
The European Union's population density according to this data, is 116 persons per square kilometer meaning that 11 states have a greater population density (all except for two from the Western EU, two from the Southern EU, two from the Eastern EU, and one from the Northern EU) than that of the entire Union whereas 17 states have a population density lower than that of the Union as a whole.
Sources
Eurostat. 2017. "Data Explorer." Accessed December 11, 2017. http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=urb_lpop1&lang=en.
United Nations. 2007. "United Nations Statistics Division - Environment Statistics." Accessed January 23, 2018. https://unstats.un.org/unsd/environment/totalarea.htm.