I while ago, I stumbled on an interesting idea. Sure, we’ve all heard or seen lists about various iterations of the phrase “most populous countries,” but what about countries’ borders?

This concept inspired me to create the map below, in which European countries are colored based on the combined population of all of their bordering countries. I might be biased, but the map looks pretty cool.

To create the map, I made a list of European countries, their borders, and their populations. Then, for each country, I added together the populations of each of their bordering countries, ranking them based on this total. For example, Andorra’s total is roughly 112 million, as this is the combined population of its two borders, France and Spain.

Some important caveats to consider before looking at the map:

This is solely a map of EUROPE . This means that for countries bordering Russia or Turkey, only European portions were counted with respect to the countries’ populations. So, for Russia, only population west of the Urals is counted, and only Eastern Thrace is counted for Turkey.

Similar to the above caveat, only borders within Europe are counted. For example, the border between France and the Netherlands on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten does not mean that those countries’ populations contribute to each others’ totals. Likewise, Russia’s and Turkey’s colors are dictated by their European borders. For example, Turkey’s color is dependent on the populations of only Greece and Bulgaria (and not Iran, Syria, etc.).

There is some debate over whether Cyprus is in Europe or Asia. To all who care about this issue, don’t worry – Cyprus’ borders’ populations are zero, regardless of the continent. So there.

Phew! With that out of the way, here’s the map:

For those who have trouble distinguishing between slightly different shades of purple (yeah it turns into blue, but whatever), here’s the breakdown (where “G” means “Group”):

G1: 225+ million: Poland

G2: 200-225 million: Switzerland, France

G3: 175-200 million: Belarus, Ukraine, Austria

G4: 150-175 million: Germany, Belgium, Lithuania, Luxembourg

G5: 125-150 million: Czech Republic, Norway, Finland

G6: 100-125 million: Latvia, Estonia, Andorra, Slovakia, Russia

G7: 75-100 million: Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Denmark, Slovenia, Spain

G8: 50-75 million: Romania, Monaco, Ireland, Moldova, San Marino, Vatican City, Bulgaria

G9: 25-50 million: Serbia, Portugal, Macedonia

G10: 0-25 million: Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Turkey, Liechtenstein, Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden, United Kingdom, Cyprus, Iceland, Malta

There are a number of interesting things to notice here. I’ll spew out what comes to mind, and if you notice anything that I missed, let me know below.

Group 1: Poland

Poland’s dark color stands out almost immediately. It’s the only country to border Europe’s two most populous nations (Russia and Germany), which have a combined population of 192 million. Adding in Ukraine brings Poland’s total to a whopping 236 million, and when you throw in Poland’s four remaining borders (Czech Republic, Belarus, Slovakia, and Lithuania), it’s easy to see why Poland is the only country that clears the 225 million mark.

Group 2: Switzerland, France

France and Switzerland just barely top out over 200 million, with 208 and 215 million, respectively. Two big contributors for both countries are Germany and Italy, while Spain bumps up France’s total and France adds to Switzerland’s. Not much else to see here.

Group 3: Belarus, Ukraine, Austria

The biggest thing to note here is that Belarus’ and Ukraine’s totals are roughly 197 and 196 million. Think about that for a second – this means that these countries’ neighbors’ populations are within one million of each other. While both Belarus and Ukraine border Poland and Russia, their close totals reveal that the combined population of Latvia, Lithuania, and Ukraine is almost the same as the combined population of Belarus, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova. This random fact isn’t much more than that – random – but it’s interesting nonetheless.

Group 4: Germany, Belgium, Lithuania, Luxembourg

Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg all border France, and while only Belgium and Luxembourg border Germany, the combined influence of Poland and several other countries gives Germany the boost it needs to clear 150 million.

Group 5: Czech Republic, Norway, Finland

This group is proof that Russia is a behemoth, providing almost 90% of Norway’s and Finland’s totals. However, the Czech Republic still beats out both of the other countries in its group by around 9 million. Quantity of borders > quality of borders, I guess?

Group 6: Latvia, Estonia, Andorra, Slovakia, Russia

Of these five countries, Russia’s total is the lowest (108 million). Maybe quality of borders > quantity of borders?

Group 7: Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Denmark, Slovenia, Spain

Something interesting to note here: I did the math, and the Netherlands’ and Hungary’s totals differ by less than one million. That means that the population of Germany and Belgium is roughly the same as that of Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Even closer are the totals of Denmark and Slovenia (less than 300k apart), meaning that Germany has roughly the same population as Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Croatia combined.

Group 8: Romania, Monaco, Ireland, Moldova, San Marino, Vatican City, Bulgaria

More than half of the countries in this group have only one border: Monaco (France), Ireland (United Kingdom), San Marino (Italy), and Vatican City (Italy).

Group 9: Serbia, Portugal, Macedonia

Portugal’s (46 million) and Serbia’s (49 million) totals are within 3 million of each other, meaning that Spain has almost the same population as all eight of Serbia’s borders combined: Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. Macedonia trails the group with a total of 32 million.

Group 10: Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Turkey, Liechtenstein, Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden, United Kingdom, Cyprus, Iceland, Malta

All of the countries in group 10 are coastal, save for Liechtenstein and Kosovo. This makes sense: a coast is generally correlated with fewer (or no) borders, which often corresponds to a smaller bordering population sum. Three are zero-border countries: Cyprus, Iceland, and Malta.

General Stuff:

One of the clearest trends here is the general shift from darker purple to white from Germany and the vicinity toward the Balkans. The lack of population in Southeastern Europe is obvious when looking at the map, particularly the Adriatic Coast. And it isn’t that these countries have few borders – they do have a fair number of borders, just with minimally populated countries.

Something else to note here is that many of the darkest countries border 5 or more countries. If you sort the countries based on the average of their neighbors’ populations, there are some interesting results:

Denmark leads the way, bordering only Germany. It’s followed by Monaco, Ireland, San Marino/Vatican City, Estonia, Andorra, and Luxembourg. Guess it pays to have fewer neighbors.

Poland falls to 17th place, its bordering countries having an average population of only 38 million. Coincidentally, this is about the same number of people that live in Poland itself.

Countries at the end of the list are largely the same, with Greece, Sweden, Croatia, United Kingdom, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, and the islands (Cyprus, Iceland, and Malta) trailing both lists discussed.

Anyway, I’m sure there’s a bunch of interesting stuff I missed here, so let me know below if there’s something you found!