Countries in South America by population density

Territories and other places

Not ranked: dependencies of the states above, places whose status is disputed. Highest first.

Place	Per km²	Status
Falkland Islands	0.37	Territory of United Kingdom

Questions

Which country in South America has the highest population density?

Ecuador has the highest population density in South America: 71 people per km² (2025). Next come Colombia (47 people per km²) and Venezuela (31 people per km²).

Which country in South America has the lowest population density?

Guyana, with 3.9 people per km² (2025).

What is the typical population density of a country in South America?

The median of the 12 countries in South America is 22 people per km²: half are above it, half below. The median, not the average, because a few countries at the top would drag an average far above almost everyone.

Where do the figures come from?

People per square kilometre of total area, from the population and area figures on this site. Source: World Bank, Wikidata, 2025. Only independent states are ranked; territories are listed separately. A country’s continent follows Natural Earth; the handful of island states it files under the open ocean are placed by their UN subregion.

Source: World Bank, Wikidata. Where the World Bank has no estimate, the population is Wikidata’s. Countries sharing a value share a rank. All sources.