🇮🇳 Is India Really the Most Populated Country?
A Travel Realisation from the Streets of England
When someone asks,
“Which is the most populated country in the world?”
Almost everyone answers confidently: India, followed by China.
I used to say the same — without a second thought.
But travel has a beautiful habit of quietly questioning what we think we know.
From Bhavnagar to London: A Personal Shock
I belong to Bhavnagar, Gujarat — a beautiful, peaceful coastal town. Life there is calm. Streets breathe. Markets are busy, but manageable.
Yes, I’ve seen crowds in Ahmedabad — traffic-packed roads, packed BRTS buses, bustling old city areas. But even then, it always felt… contained.
Then I came to England.
London hit me differently.
- Streets full of people — all the time
- Underground trains packed beyond imagination
- Tourist places overflowing, even on weekdays
- And then Birmingham — markets, high streets, buses — everywhere, people, people, people
One day, standing at a London Underground platform, I genuinely thought:
“I have never seen this level of crowd in Bhavnagar… or even Ahmedabad.”
And that thought refused to leave my mind.
Questioning the Myth: Are We Asking the Right Question?
That’s when I realised something important.
We always ask:
👉 Which country has the highest population?
But we almost never ask:
👉 How many people live per square kilometre?
Because honestly, what does total population alone tell us?
If a country is huge in area, it will naturally have more people.
That comparison is incomplete — and a little unfair.
So I decided to dig deeper.
Digging into the Numbers (2022 – Fair Comparison)
To avoid outdated or cherry-picked data, I compared population density for 2022, keeping timelines consistent.
Rank of Top 50 Countries for Population Density
| Rank | Country/Territory | Population Density (people/km²) |
| 1 | Macau | 21,052 |
| 2 | Monaco | 21,444 |
| 3 | Singapore | 8,378 |
| 4 | Hong Kong | 6,792 |
| 5 | Gibraltar | 4,248 |
| 6 | Bahrain | 2,068 |
| 7 | Maldives | 1,759 |
| 8 | Malta | 1,894 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 1,190.6 |
| 10 | Sint Maarten | 1,312 |
| 11 | Bermuda | 1,172.2 |
| 12 | Vatican City | 1,029.5 |
| 13 | Mayotte | 901.6 |
| 14 | Jersey | 896 |
| 15 | Guernsey | 852.6 |
| 16 | West Bank | 743.6 |
| 17 | Taiwan | 646.1 |
| 18 | Mauritius | 613.9 |
| 19 | Barbados | 611.8 |
| 20 | Aruba | 600 |
| 21 | Nauru | 585.7 |
| 22 | San Marino | 559 |
| 23 | Lebanon | 544.2 |
| 24 | Rwanda | 535.5 |
| 25 | South Korea | 510.4 |
| 26 | Netherlands | 496.4 |
| 27 | Burundi | 488.8 |
| 28 | Comoros | 471.5 |
| 29 | Haiti | 464.1 |
| 30 | England | 434 |
| 31 | India | 425.5 |
| 32 | Israel | 420 |
| 33 | Belgium | 386.6 |
| 34 | Philippines | 379.5 |
| 35 | Tuvalu | 373.1 |
| 36 | Puerto Rico | 361 |
| 37 | Réunion | 355.5 |
| 38 | Curaçao | 352.9 |
| 39 | Grenada | 340.4 |
| 40 | Sri Lanka | 331.5 |
| 41 | Japan | 325.7 |
| 42 | Pakistan | 321.3 |
| 43 | Vietnam | 307.9 |
| 44 | Martinique | 305.5 |
| 45 | Guam | 279.1 |
| 46 | El Salvador | 302.6 |
| 47 | Cayman Islands | 294.7 |
| 48 | St. Vincent & Grenadines | 287.6 |
| 49 | United Kingdom | 286.2 |
| 50 | Kuwait | 286.1 |
| 51 | Saint Lucia | 283.8 |
| — | United States | 34.9 |
Comparing Countries for Population Density
And the surprises were… shocking.
🔍 Surprise #1
India is NOT in the top 30 most population-dense countries.
Yes — read that again.
India is the most populated country,
but not the most population dense country.
🔍 Surprise #2
England is MORE densely populated than India.
Per square kilometre:
- England has more people packed into each km² than India
- This explains why London feels more crowded than many Indian cities
Suddenly, my experience made complete sense.
It wasn’t my imagination.
It was math + geography + lived reality.
🔍 Surprise #3
The USA? There’s no comparison at all.
The United States has a population density:
- About 12 times LOWER than India
- About 12 times LOWER than England
Despite being one of the most powerful and populated nations, space changes everything.
London
Travel Teaches What Google Can’t
This is why I believe:
Travel is not just about seeing places — it’s about unlearning assumptions.
Before travelling, I knew India was crowded.
After travelling, I understood crowding differently.
Myths vs Reality
✔️ Fact: India is the most populated country
❌ Myth: India is the most crowded everywhere
✔️ Fact: England has a smaller population
✔️ Fact: England feels more crowded in daily life
Both are true — depending on how you look at the data.
A Note to Fellow Travellers 🌍
Next time you travel:
- Don’t just believe what you’ve heard
- Don’t rely only on headlines or stereotypes
- Walk the streets
- Take public transport
- Observe how people live
Travel to learn.
Travel to unlearn.
Travel to experience the truth yourself.
Final Thought
The world is far more nuanced than simple labels like
“most populated” or “least crowded”.
As travellers, photographers, and explorers, our job is not just to visit places — but to understand them.
📷 Keep travelling.
🌏 Keep exploring this beautiful planet Earth.
🤝 Be respectful and kind to all cultures.
✨ And experience life beyond myths.
— Jam | Jam’s Photography