Despite being the world’s most-visited tourist destination and having several very densely populated cities, some parts of France are surprisingly empty, if you know where to look.

Overview

The French average population density, as of 2021, was 124 inhabitants per square kilometre.

In comparison, the UK has a higher population density with 277 people per square kilometre (2022), while the US is less densely populated with just 36 people per square kilometre, according to the World Bank.

World Atlas ranked France the 19th most densely populated country in Europe, with places like Monaco and the Vatican City topping the chart and the Scandinavian countries, as well as Iceland, falling to the bottom. 

However, these are crude metrics since a country’s population is not evenly distributed – and this is especially the case in France.

France’s population density varies drastically depending on where you are in the country – giving rise to maps like the one below that show Paris (20,000 people per square kilometre) sticking out far above the rest of the country.

Population density of France.#rayshader adventures, an #rstats tale pic.twitter.com/YCve0sV8ra

— terence (@researchremora) September 28, 2021

Where to go for wide, open spaces

With beautiful farmland abundant, the sparsely populated parts of France do come with their own unique challenges, from shortages of healthcare professionals to long distances to get to train stations.

READ MORE: Dodgy internet but great neighbours: What it’s really like living in small-town France

But if you’re prepared for all that, then you need to head into the middle of the country to find the most sparsely-populated areas.

In mainland France, INSEE data (from 2018) found that the least densely populated département was Lozère with just 15 people per square kilometre. The département is made up of valleys, gorges and rivers, particularly famous for the rugged Parc national des Cévennes, which includes the Gorges du Tarn.

After Lozère, sparsely populated départements of Creuse and Cantal in central France have 21 and 25 people per square km respectively. Cantal is known for its range of dormant volcanoes in the Massif Central.

The mountainous départements of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (24 people/sq km) and Hautes-Alpes (25 people/sq km) in south-eastern France are popular with skiers in the winter and hikers in the summer, but they are not known for crowds all year-long.

Meanwhile, the north-eastern départements of Meuse and Haute Marne each had population densities of less than 31 people per kilometre squared.

In the south west the départements of Gers and Ariège, which includes part of the Pyrenees mountains have a population of 31 people per square kilometre on average.

The Massif Central mountain range - beautiful, bleak and tough - has a long history of sheltering fugitives due to its extreme isolation, from religious dissidents in the 17th century to Jews fleeing Nazi persecution during World War II.

Star-gazing

As the inclusion of parts of the Alps in the above list will tell you, population density maps only count permanent residents and not tourists.

If your goal is to get as far away from other people as possible, one good indicator is the 'dark skies' maps - these are intended for star-gazing and uses satellite images to determine the parts of the world with the most light pollution. But low light pollution usually also means not much human activity - find the map HERE.

If you zoom in on the map, you can see that the best spots for star-gazing tend to fall in national parks, such as the Parc naturel régional de brenne in the central French département of Indre (32 people/ sq km).

The Morvan national park in the Nievre (30 people/ sq km) Burgundy also stands out, as well as the Parc naturel régional de Millevaches (which translates literally to the regional park of a thousand cows) in the Creuse département and the Parc Naturel Régional des Landes de Gascogne in Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

But overall a similar picture emerges - the centre of France tends to be the darkest.

Least inhabited villages and towns

According to another study by INSEE, France is the country in the EU with the most municipalities with under 36,697 people. 

As of 2024, there were over 30 communes with less than 10 inhabitants, including the Rochefourchat in the Drôme départment in southern France with just one inhabitant for an area spanning 12 square kilometres.

There are some towns that are entirely empty, like the memorial village of Oradour-sur-Glane near Limoges, which have been left intentionally empty following the first and second World Wars. 

READ MORE: Did you know? There are six towns in France that have mayors, but no residents

As for the towns with less than 10 people, you could visit the three inhabitants of Rouvroy-Ripont in the Marne département, or Caubous in Occitanie with four people.

Pommerol in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes has five inhabitants, while Épécamps in the Somme département has six.