Articles / data-notes

Population density is the most misleading honest number

الكثافة السكانية: أصدق رقم مضلل

2026-07-26

Sudan's average density is about 26 people per square kilometre. That number describes almost nowhere. Khartoum state packs in hundreds per square kilometre; much of Northern state is empty desert where the average person is a rounding error of sand.

Averages over deserts always lie. Egypt is the classic case: 110 per square kilometre on paper, while actual Egyptians live at Nile-valley densities north of 1,500.

Our map colours states by density anyway, because it is still the best single glance at where people are. Just remember each colour is an average wearing a uniform.