This Is the Least Densely Populated Country in the World

The second largest country in the world by area, Canada is largely too cold and inhospitable to host a big population. Its inhabitants are primarily spread along the country’s southern border with the United States, where the climate is milder and agriculture is possible. The country’s population growth is stoked mostly by immigration.

Some of Africa’s largest wilderness areas are in Botswana. The population is largely concentrated in the eastern cities of Gaborone and Francistown, with low concentrations in the Kalahari desert to the southwest. Although Botswana used to have one of the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates in the world, it now has one of the best treatment programs in Africa.

A small country on the north coast of South America, Guyana’s interior is heavily forested and uninhabited. About 90% of the population lives along the coast, which accounts for 10% of the country’s land area, and nearly half of those people reside in the capital city of Georgetown and the surrounding metro area.

A country slightly larger than Alaska, Libya’s climate and landscape are Mediterranean along the coast but largely barren desert in the interior. Most of the population lives in coastal cities, as the desert is uninhabitable.

Suriname is one of the smallest countries in South America. About 90% of the population lives in Paramaribo, the capital city on the Atlantic Coast, or on the coast. Suriname is largely covered in sparsely populated dense tropical rainforest.