What country has the Most Public Libraries in the World?
Public libraries are an indispensable part of society and can be found in almost every country in the world. As these institutions are open to all and comprise a rich collection of books and journals, they play a vital role in the advancement of knowledge. Apart from providing areas for students and professionals to study and work, public libraries also undertake valuable activities such as organizing book clubs which go a long way in increasing people’s interest in literature and providing educational programs.
Currently, China has the largest number of public libraries in the world. According to OCLC data updated in 2016, there are 51,311 public libraries in China.
Coming in second place is Russia with 46,000 public libraries, while India stands third with 29,800 libraries spread across the entire country.
Some nations where the number of public libraries ranges between 1,000 and 10,000 are the United States, Germany, France, Canada, Switzerland, the Philippines, Brazil, Iran, Thailand, South Africa, Australia, and many others.
There were quite a lot of countries where the number was less than 1,000 but more than 100. Some of the nations that fell in this category were South Korea, Israel, Morocco, Belgium, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Greece, etc.
The next category, i.e. 10 to 100 comprised nations like Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Namibia, Egypt, Nigeria, Malta, and Lithuania, to name a few. Meanwhile, nations standing at the bottom of the list and having less than 10 libraries were Uzbekistan, Qatar, Rwanda, Myanmar, Oman, Barbados, Zambia, and a few others.
The table provides information on the number of libraries in each nation.
| Location | Public Libraries |
| China | 51,311 |
| Russia | 46,000 |
| India | 29,800 |
| Ukraine | 18,323 |
| United States | 9,042 |
| Poland | 8,290 |
| Germany | 8,195 |
| Mexico | 7,260 |
| Italy | 7,000 |
| Vietnam | 6,691 |
| Brazil | 6,545 |
| Czech Republic | 5,407 |
| Belarus | 5,000 |
| Azerbaijan | 4,382 |
| Spain | 4,164 |
| Kazakhstan | 4,004 |
| Iran | 3,950 |
| France | 3,410 |
| Canada | 3,311 |
| Japan | 3,126 |
| Romania | 2,943 |
| Bulgaria | 2,722 |
| Georgia | 2,251 |
| Thailand | 2,116 |
| Sweden | 2,090 |
| Switzerland | 2,000 |
| Tajikistan | 1,994 |
| Slovakia | 1,916 |
| South Africa | 1,800 |
| Colombia | 1,609 |
| Argentina | 1,545 |
| Austria | 1,473 |
| Hungary | 1,465 |
| Australia | 1,429 |
| Malaysia | 1,392 |
| Moldova | 1,381 |
| Philippines | 1,224 |
| Sri Lanka | 1,185 |
| Turkey | 1,156 |
| Cambodia | 1,100 |
| Indonesia | 1,062 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 1,038 |
| Armenia | 1,034 |
| South Korea | 930 |
| Israel | 870 |
| Peru | 820 |
| Latvia | 815 |
| Nepal | 800 |
| Norway | 744 |
| Venezuela | 728 |
| Belgium | 641 |
| Morocco | 600 |
| Serbia | 554 |
| Chile | 526 |
| Greece | 520 |
| Iraq | 489 |
| Estonia | 487 |
| Cuba | 407 |
| Bolivia | 400 |
| Pakistan | 400 |
| Dominican Republic | 398 |
| Tunisia | 371 |
| Ireland | 348 |
| Croatia | 319 |
| Finland | 308 |
| New Zealand | 296 |
| Mongolia | 281 |
| Ghana | 257 |
| Taiwan | 256 |
| Syria | 250 |
| Ethiopia | 249 |
| El Salvador | 228 |
| Uruguay | 215 |
| United Kingdom | 208 |
| Portugal | 194 |
| Netherlands | 177 |
| Cyprus | 142 |
| Jordan | 135 |
| Honduras | 116 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 108 |
| Panama | 108 |
| Denmark | 97 |
| Mali | 97 |
| Algeria | 83 |
| Côte d’Ivoire | 83 |
| Afghanistan | 82 |
| Botswana | 82 |
| Maldives | 80 |
| Saudi Arabia | 80 |
| Iceland | 78 |
| Benin | 70 |
| Guatemala | 70 |
| Lebanon | 70 |
| Bangladesh | 68 |
| Lithuania | 65 |
| Namibia | 65 |
| Slovenia | 60 |
| Puerto Rico | 58 |
| Costa Rica | 57 |
| Madagascar | 57 |
| Republic of the Congo | 56 |
| Malta | 56 |
| Burkina Faso | 50 |
| Egypt | 50 |
| Zimbabwe | 49 |
| Palestine | 43 |
| Chad | 42 |
| Guinea | 42 |
| Laos | 41 |
| Albania | 40 |
| Tanzania | 37 |
| Bahamas | 36 |
| Nigeria | 36 |
| Togo | 36 |
| Belize | 35 |
| Paraguay | 35 |
| Macedonia | 33 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 30 |
| Haiti | 30 |
| Nicaragua | 30 |
| Cameroon | 29 |
| Guyana | 27 |
| Kuwait | 26 |
| Senegal | 26 |
| Uganda | 24 |
| Singapore | 23 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 23 |
| Luxembourg | 21 |
| Cape Verde | 20 |
| Montenegro | 20 |
| Papua New Guinea | 20 |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 20 |
| United Arab Emirates | 20 |
| Angola | 19 |
| Greenland | 19 |
| Saint Lucia | 17 |
| Mauritius | 16 |
| San Marino | 15 |
| eSwatini | 15 |
| Jamaica | 13 |
| North Korea | 13 |
| Sudan | 13 |
| Burundi | 12 |
| Fiji | 12 |
| Gambia | 12 |
| Lesotho | 12 |
| Channel Islands | 11 |
| Gabon | 11 |
| Mozambique | 11 |
| Brunei Darussalam | 9 |
| Grenada | 9 |
| Uzbekistan | 9 |
| Zambia | 9 |
| Andorra | 8 |
| Barbados | 8 |
| Isle of Man | 8 |
| Qatar | 7 |
| Virgin Islands, US | 7 |
| Oman | 6 |
| Dominica | 5 |
| Rwanda | 5 |
| Virgin Islands, British | 5 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 3 |
| Aruba | 3 |
| Ecuador | 3 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 3 |
| Eritrea | 3 |
| French Guiana | 3 |
| Liberia | 3 |
| Liechtenstein | 3 |
| Réunion | 3 |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | 3 |
| Solomon Islands | 3 |
| Yemen | 3 |
| American Samoa | 2 |
| Bahrain | 2 |
| Bermuda | 2 |
| Cayman Islands | 2 |
| Guadeloupe | 2 |
| Kenya | 2 |
| Kiribati | 2 |
| Libya | 2 |
| Marshall Islands | 2 |
| Martinique | 2 |
| Mauritania | 2 |
| Micronesia | 2 |
| Monaco | 2 |
| Palau | 2 |
| Samoa | 2 |
| Seychelles | 2 |
| Timor-Leste | 2 |
| Åland Islands | 1 |
| Anguilla | 1 |
| Bhutan | 1 |
| Cook Islands | 1 |
| Curaçao | 1 |
| Falkland Islands | 1 |
| Faroe Islands | 1 |
| Gibraltar | 1 |
| Guam | 1 |
| Holy See (Vatican City) | 1 |
| Kosovo | 1 |
| Macao | 1 |
| Malawi | 1 |
| Mayotte | 1 |
| Montserrat | 1 |
| Myanmar | 1 |
| New Caledonia | 1 |
| Niue | 1 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 1 |
| Saint Helena | 1 |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | 1 |
| Sierra Leone | 1 |
| Suriname | 1 |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | 1 |
| Vanuatu | 1 |
(Data sourced from OCLC)
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