Habits formed during these days of social distancing will stay with us when we do start travelling again, which means wide open spaces are more likely to tempt us than busy cities. Here are some of the world’s least densely populated countries and territories (Hong Kong has 7,140 people per square kilometre, for comparison), accompanied by sightseeing suggestions and a few snippets of trivia to impress friends with. Russia, 8.9 people per sq km The world’s largest country shares a border with 14 others and is reputedly home to about 20 per cent of all the trees on Earth, although who counted them is anyone’s guess. Vast Siberia makes up roughly 9 per cent of the planet’s land surface and includes the coldest permanently settled place (Oymyakon). Temperatures in the gold-mining town are so low in winter that drivers leave their car engines running all day to keep them from freezing. Australia, 3.3 people per sq km With at least 85 per cent of Australians living within 50km of the coast, the easiest way to find space is to head inland. Be prepared for heat though; the highest recorded temperature, set in Queensland more than a century ago, was 53.1 degrees Celsius. On the other hand, it’s said that more snow falls in the Australian Alps than in Switzerland. And if it’s clean air you’re after, the Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station, in Tasmania, boasts the world’s purest. Greenland, 0.14 people per sq km ADanish dependent territory, Greenland is a year-round tourist destination. Winter visitors arrive hoping to glimpse the northern lights and extreme golfers fly in to compete in the World Ice Golf Championships, which take place on the island of Uummannaq in March (players use orange balls, if you were wondering). Summer sightseers enjoy never-ending days – the sun does not set from May 25 to July 25 – but should bear in mind that July and August are the only months when the temperature averages above freezing. Canada, 4.1 people per sq km Despite being the world’s second largest country, Canada has a smaller population than Greater Tokyo. On the shores of Hudson Bay, residents of Churchill, Manitoba, leave their cars and even their houses unlocked so anyone encountering a peckish polar bear has a bolt hole. Nature’s largest land carnivores attract more than 10,000 tourists to the area in October and November, when the bears congregate to wait for pack ice to form. Giant trucks with raised viewing platforms keep wildlife watchers safe from attack. Bolivia, 10.8 people per sq km Bolivia is one of only a handful of countries with two capital cities. Sucre serves as the constitutional capital while La Paz takes care of administrative matters. The latter is the world’s highest capital city and is where you’ll find Estadio Hernando Siles. At 3,637 metres above sea level it’s the world’s highest national stadium. Visiting soccer teams struggle in the thin air – after a match in 2018, Brazilian players had to be treated with oxygen. Be sure to acclimatise before travelling to otherworldly Uyuni, Bolivia’s top attraction. The mirror-like salt flats are on the Andes altiplano, the most extensive area of high plateau outside Tibet. Namibia, 3.1 people per sq km Sparsely populated Namibia is home to at least a dozen tribes but it’s the Herero who are most likely to make it into the pages of National Geographic , or more specifically, Herero women. Despite the heat, they wear voluminous Victorian dresses with petticoats and accessories. Cow horn-shaped hats complete the ensemble as the Herero are cattle breeders. The look – all puffy sleeves and patchwork embroidery – was introduced by German colonialists and missionaries who demanded the topless tribeswomen adopt clothing that met European standards of modesty. The 19th century-style dress evolved into a cultural identifier proudly observed to this day. Iceland, 3.4 people per sq km Iceland is the world’s largest green energy producer (geothermal and hydropower), and electricity is virtually free for the inhabitants of one of the world’s most expensive countries. The Nordic nation has been experiencing a tourism boom but it’s easy to avoid the bottlenecks. Swap the popular Blue Lagoon geothermal spa for the Mývatn Nature Baths, which have the same mineral-rich turquoise water minus the crowds. Next, head beyond the fishing village of Dalvik, on one of the nation’s longest fjords, to Siglufjörður. Much of the 2015 television thriller and surprise global hit Trapped was filmed in the isolated town, 40km from the Arctic Circle. Mongolia, 2.1 people per sq km The world’s second largest landlocked country, Mongolia is home to 13 times as many horses as people. Years of urban migration – Ulan Bator has almost tripled in size since 1990 – have resulted in huge informal settlements on the periphery of the world’s coldest capital city. During the brutal winters, displaced former herders and their families use whatever they can find to keep warm. Those who can’t afford coal stoves burn old rubber tyres, and winter pollution levels are off the charts. Oman, 16.5 people per sq km The sultanate is renowned for the quality of its dates – an estimated 8 million palm trees yield more than 250 indigenous varieties. The market in the city of Ibra is a good place for a taste test, but male travellers should note they aren’t allowed to visit on Wednesdays. The souk, where traders sell spices, jewellery, household goods, clothing, food and everything in between, is women only for the day. Oman is a vast country and the combination of wide open spaces and relatively few tourists means you have every chance of having the Jebel Akhdar mountains, photogenic Nakhal and Nizwa forts and the oases of Wadi Damm and Wadi Bani Khalid all to yourself. Argentina, 16.5 people per sq km For a sense of solitude, leave Argentina’s crowded northern cities and head to remote, unspoilt Patagonia, where the population density is lower than on the steppes of Mongolia. Trekkers shouldn’t miss the jagged peaks and waterfalls of El Chaltén, which look as if they were generated with CGI. A bum-numbing 20-hour bus ride further south lies Ushuaia, the world’s southernmost city, and from there it’s another long journey to the transport hub of Rio Gallegos, from where there are flights to the Falkland Islands. The British overseas territory has just 0.26 people per square kilometre – fewer than Patagonia or anywhere else except Greenland.