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Countries with the Most Airports

Name the countries of the world that have the most airports or airfields recognizable from the air.
The runway(s) may be paved or unpaved and may include closed or abandoned installations
Quiz by Kannan2000
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Last updated: March 17, 2021
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First submittedMarch 18, 2013
Times taken81,972
Average score75.0%
Rating4.96
3:30
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#
Country
13,513
United States
4,093
Brazil
1,714
Mexico
1,467
Canada
1,218
Russia
916
Argentina
855
Bolivia
#
Country
836
Colombia
799
Paraguay
673
Indonesia
561
Papua New Guinea
539
Germany
507
China
481
Chile
#
Country
464
France
460
United Kingdom
444
Venezuela
432
Ecuador
418
Australia
407
South Africa
126 Recent Comments
+42
Level 66
Sep 11, 2017
Why are so many SA countries on here?
+683
Level 83
Sep 12, 2017
Because they have a lot of airports.
+41
Level 75
Sep 12, 2017
Best answer ever!
+25
Level 91
Jan 15, 2018
With 58 likes and counting, looks like many agree.
+4
Level 73
Jun 24, 2024
580 now!
+3
Level 35
Jul 23, 2024
590
+3
Level 35
Sep 2, 2024
605
+1
Level 69
Feb 16, 2025
650 lmfaooo
+1
Level 52
Mar 28, 2025
668 lol
+1
Level 39
Apr 25, 2025
672 Now
+9
Level 28
Jan 16, 2018
Great response mate
+7
Level 63
Jan 16, 2018
So true
+10
Level 74
Jan 17, 2018
84 likes now, you're becoming famous :D
+12
Level 72
Oct 28, 2018
Ooh... That comment has just overtaken another for second place in most-liked jetpunk comments I've ever seen. Number one is on the Elements Mentioned in the Bible Quiz.
+4
Level 76
Dec 4, 2018
Six away from overtaking that one ... can we beat it?
+21
Level 83
Jan 10, 2019
Dear God how did this reply get so popular
+6
Level 80
Mar 22, 2020
@brandybuck96 Is this the most like comment on Jetpunk? Is there a way to find out which comment is the most liked on this website?
+6
Level 63
Apr 16, 2020
rg1227 has a blog on it. It's the second most, after the Elements Mentioned Most in the Bible.
+4
Level 75
May 5, 2020
Shoot, 185 likes!
+3
Level 43
Mar 6, 2021
Pandora49 their are quizzes on it too
+4
Level 54
Apr 19, 2021
I'm like number 300 to the comment!
+4
Level 53
May 14, 2021
1st place!!! Congrats! I was waiting for this moment!!
+2
Level 74
Sep 6, 2021
403, wow!
+2
Level 66
Oct 10, 2021
Let's get to 500!!!!!
+2
Level 66
Aug 26, 2023
You get 500!!
+1
Level 63
Feb 24, 2024
+540, the most liked comment on jp for now
+2
Level 63
Oct 1, 2024
610, still beating the one on the other quiz
+2
Level 68
Oct 5, 2024
I just came here to check the same thing, and you'd beaten me to it by 4 days
+1
Level 51
Feb 5, 2025
OMG. I thot they were there cuz they had carnivals.
+37
Level 93
Sep 13, 2017
Lots of little airfields due to poor road infrastructure
+10
Level 68
Mar 1, 2021
The fact that the countries are so mountainous probably helps.
+10
Level 53
Jan 15, 2018
But no Peru.
+24
Level 97
Sep 12, 2017
Seeing pretty much all SA countries on the list, can't help but wonder how much the drug trade had an impact on this...
+25
Level 68
Sep 16, 2017
That's a sobering thought!
+12
Level 68
Apr 19, 2021
A lot of places in SA are very difficult to access by train or car so they built airports.
+1
Level 61
Apr 14, 2022
Not much, definitely not the reason
+9
Level 60
Sep 12, 2017
Is there any reason that the airports/airfields per capita is so high in South America?
+9
Level 60
Sep 12, 2017
Like Bolivia has 1 airport/airfield in 12.7k population while China has 1 airport/airfield in 2.56m population. That difference is about 200 times. But of course, if comparing to India or Bangladesh, the number would be even more astonishing.
+7
Level 70
Sep 12, 2017
It depends what you call an airport. Most South American 'airports' are virtually landing strips where you can land and take off and that's about it. It also depends who uses the airport and for what purpose. Many light aircraft fly from South America to USA carrying cargo. The passenger aircraft only use a few of the major airports.
+2
Level 83
Sep 12, 2017
! don't think this is per-capita. I think it's the actual number of airports in the whole country. The South American countries probably have many more (but smaller) landing strips, as many places are very remote and much more accessible by air.
+7
Level 72
Sep 12, 2017
Very remote villages, accessible only by air (in terms of practicality). The Andes Mountains and the Amazon rain forest are incredible obstacles to road or rail construction. Kind of reminds me how it is very difficult and expensive to string traditional wired phone service - cellular towers are much more efficient and far cheaper than pulling wire. One airstrip versus a mountain road with tunnels....In a way, it is a blessing because the beautiful cultures in the deep interior of South America are much more likely to remain relatively intact with less encroachment from outside. That said, being cut off from the world has the effect of keeping these areas poor, and puts a tremendous limit on access to healthcare and education.
+7
Level 67
Jan 15, 2018
I planned to travel in Bolivia from La Paz to another destination (can't remember exactly what it was called, as it wasn't a city), and my travel options were a 40-minute flight or a 23-hour drive. That is not an exaggeration. The mountains, the rain forest, and the poverty make road travel over long distances very difficult. I took the flight, by the way.
+1
Level 63
Jul 6, 2024
from that day to today, you could've driven that route:

2467 times

and flown that route

85104 times

+2
Level 72
Apr 19, 2021
Because the terrain is so difficult. In China you would just take a train or a highway. In Paraguay that is often not really an option; you need to use the tiny airstrip.
+13
Level 75
Sep 12, 2017
Forget South America, how come Papua New Guinea makes this list???
+17
Level 85
Sep 13, 2017
Rainforest again i would think
+10
Level 81
Nov 7, 2017
right. same answer. Difficult terrain, poor roads, no infrastructure like railroads etc.
+10
Level 71
Jan 15, 2018
Also some abandoned WWII fields.
+5
Level 63
Jan 16, 2018
Because it has enough airports to make the list.
+3
Level 72
Oct 12, 2020
Yeah, but Paraguay is also poor and unlike PNG, has NO challenging geography... It's flat! And it's on there too.
+3
Level 66
Apr 19, 2021
islands as well
+1
Level 72
Sep 3, 2021
Lots of islands. You need a way to get to them...
+18
Level 74
Jan 12, 2018
Very surprised the Vatican didn't make the list
+11
Level 78
Jan 15, 2018
They might have the most helipads per square metre
+2
Level 17
Feb 25, 2018
yeah!
+3
Level 80
Mar 22, 2020
Because the Vatican is a microstate (with smallest area and population), and actually has no airports in it (unsurprisingly).
+2
Level 75
May 5, 2020
I wonder if one could fit in it.
+3
Level 80
Mar 24, 2021
Around 3,000 acres minimum is required for an airport, and the Vatican is only 121 acres in size.
+6
Level 69
Apr 19, 2021
it was a joke...
+5
Level 78
Jan 15, 2018
Papua New Guinea???
+2
Level 55
Jan 15, 2018
Who knew?

Not me.

+3
Level 55
Jan 15, 2018
As kalbahamut has been pointing out, difficult terrain and poor roads means a lot more short distance air travel. Also in the case of PNG specifically I would expect a lot of it is left over infrastructure from WWII.
+2
Level 67
Apr 20, 2021
The proliferation of cargo cults!
+3
Level 44
Jan 15, 2018
Guessed them all but Papua New Guinea.
+2
Level 73
Jan 18, 2018
As about 90% of the test takers (me including). In hindsight it makes sense that it's on the list, but I still wouldn't have told about it.
+2
Level 68
Jan 15, 2018
Well, I'm surprised I got them all! PNG was one of my first guesses. So many valleys and mountains that air is the only access route for many.
+2
Level 58
Jan 15, 2018
Casually got all of them except for the UK...
+3
Level 80
Mar 22, 2020
Are you serious?
+4
Level 33
Jan 15, 2018
Can't believe I got png. Who would have thought.
+2
Level 73
Jan 15, 2018
I got them all with 1:00 left. Agreed with above comments. I thought about 1) countries with more money as airplanes are expensive; 2) significant land space to fit all those airports; 2) remote/sparsely populated countries where road travel is impossible or hard; and 3) military impact; places where wars were contested or where there is a lot of military activity.

I did also consider drug trade since that's one of the things, for better or worse, that comes to mind when considering aviation and the Americas. I guessed all the SA countries, which is the only reason I got Paraguay, I was surprised how many they had.

+1
Level 78
Apr 10, 2023
Yes, all south american countries are heavy into drug trade. In fact, south of Texas it's all like Mexico: taco eating, mariachi hat wearing, mustachoed drug dealers. In the jungle, of course. >__>
+3
Level 71
Jan 15, 2018
Literally the last country I thought of was PNG, and I decide to give up a split second later. I have never felt so ashamed.
+5
Level 76
Jan 15, 2018
So many people baffled about South America, but what's the deal with USA having 13,5K airports?
+3
Level 67
Jan 15, 2018
Whole lotta shipping planes. Plus, it's wealthy, populous, and huge. So...
+2
Level 79
Apr 19, 2021
Combination of factors including that flying is a fetishized hobby in the US. There are private airstrips (now mostly disused) built into the farmland all over the place. There's also Alaska which is huge with limited roads, although a lot of that traffic uses water for landing.
+2
Level 28
Jan 16, 2018
There better be 100% guessed USA..
+2
Level 63
Jan 16, 2018
Don’t worry... there is
+4
Level 37
Jan 17, 2018
got the south american nations but would have NEVER guessed papua new guinea
+2
Level 37
Jan 19, 2018
I too didn't think of Indonesia or png. Spaced that area of the world out I guess. Makes sense now.
+2
Level 68
Jan 19, 2018
Papua New Guinea, eh? I guess World War II really left a mark on such a remote and relatively small country.
+2
Level 38
Jan 20, 2018
How come most of the South American nations are there??
+5
Level 63
Apr 17, 2020
Because they have a lot of airports. (sorry brandybuck96!)
+3
Level 71
Aug 30, 2020
*crickets*
+3
Level 53
Jan 22, 2018
Papua New Guinea has more airports than... Germany?!
+3
Level 51
Apr 18, 2018
South America loves their airports!
+2
Level 73
Jun 26, 2018
USA - wtf??
+6
Level 91
Jun 26, 2018
You're the only one shocked.
+2
Level 45
Apr 11, 2020
Nope i am shocked too.
+2
Level 45
Apr 19, 2021
What could possibly be surprising about that?
+1
Level 73
Jun 24, 2024
With the latest data the US has almost 16k airports and a population of 342m. While if you compare that to Europe, they have about 4k airports and a population of nearly 600M (not counting Russia as it was not counted for the airports either). If the US would have the same ratio as Europe that would mean 2400M people so 2.4 billion people would be expected for 16k airports. Or about 2.3k airports would be expected.

TL DR The US has about 7x more airports per capita than Europe. (1 per 150k vs 1 per 21.5k roughly)

I would say that warrants a wtf. Not a wtf they are on this list (which I don't think Zefyrinus meant) but a wtf that high. More than Europe would not be a big surprise, but relatively 7 times as much is quite a lot! (I myself wouldn't have used the terms wtf or shocked, but as a response to "you're the only one" and "what could be surprising")

+3
Level 56
Aug 21, 2018
Interesting. Very surprising list. These airports probably mostly in very remote areas
+2
Level 34
Apr 29, 2019
Tactic of picking countries with poor road and rail infrastructure paid off quite well re. the South American countries.
+4
Level 63
Apr 17, 2020
Why is everybody talking about PNG images.
+2
Level 71
Aug 30, 2020
I was baffled at first by all of the South American countries on the list, but after reading the explanations it makes more sense. Still have two questions though: 1. Why is Mexico so high? From what I can tell, Mexico doesn't have terrain nearly as difficult to navigate as South America. 2. Why isn't Peru on here when other smaller countries with similar terrain (like Ecuador) make it?
+2
Level 71
Apr 19, 2021
Evangelical missionaries built lots of airports in Ecuadorian jungle. That might be true in other countries.

And, recently, drug trade.

+3
Level 72
Oct 12, 2020
Ecuador but not India. Hmm.
+3
Level 67
Mar 27, 2021
I made the opposite quiz without knowing this existed! Countries with no airports.
+2
Level 67
Apr 19, 2021
I'm feeling quite sad now because I made this same quiz in 2020 :/
+2
Level 45
Apr 19, 2021
I have so many questions...

But somehow got 100% first try lol

+2
Level 39
Apr 19, 2021
i feel like a genius for getting a hundred on this
+2
Level 45
Apr 19, 2021
Just starting guessing South American countries as a joke, then kept going after every one turned out right lol. Is there a reason South America is fanatical about their airports?
+1
Level 61
Apr 14, 2022
Mostly big countries (Paraguay is a small country for SA and still has 4/5 the size of Spain), most people wouldn't travel by roads for huge distances. Rio-Brasilia, for instance, is a 3 hours flight, or 14 hours by car, or 20 hours (at least) by bus, which would you choose?

Moreover, railroads infrastructure is terrible for a few reasons (terrain, history, politics).

Therefore, the preferential transport is by air.

+2
Level 69
Apr 19, 2021
Surprised by all the comments about PNG. It is not a small country. It is incredibly mountainous to the extent that tribes in adjoining valleys had no knowledge of each other. There's a reason why it has so may distinct languages. Light aircraft and helicopters are used to ferry goods and livestock as well as people. It is amazing to see people in traditional garb, who have no electricity or piped water queueing to board a plane only one or two generations after they first made contact with the outside world.
+1
Level 61
Apr 14, 2022
The reason I was surprised by PNG is because Indonesia is very much like PNG, but much bigger and only has 100 airports difference.
+1
Level 47
Apr 20, 2021
Got all except South Africa!
+1
Level 74
Apr 21, 2021
In Colombia, for example, from Bogotá to Pereira (a medium large city of 600k) it takes you thirty minutes by plane or nine hours by bus. Crossing the Andes takes a LOT of time.
+1
Level 54
Apr 23, 2021
Why are so many SA countries on here?
+1
Level 54
Apr 23, 2021
Because they have a lot of airports.
+1
Level 55
Jun 4, 2021
I totally didnt expect Papua New Guinea
+1
Level 92
Jul 5, 2021
Ecuador...total suprise
+2
Level 35
Aug 22, 2021
12% People Got Papua New Guinea???
+1
Level 60
Oct 29, 2021
I almost typed png but then I was like "no, there's no way" so i am mad
+1
Level 58
Jun 24, 2022
I figured a lot of missionaries would have made airstrips.
+1
Level 35
Aug 19, 2022
missed only Papua new Guinea because I write "png"
+2
Level 52
Sep 12, 2022
I was really surprised to see so many South American countries! Only missed png.
+1
Level 70
Sep 26, 2022
Woah, PNG? Apparently Oceania and South America LOVE planes
+1
Level 34
Oct 20, 2022
jeez only 13% got the good ol' PNG, thats not at all surprising. i just spammed all the countries i know
+1
Level 63
Feb 13, 2023
19/20, because i misspelled Australia and never tried to type it again. LOL.
+1
Level 42
May 3, 2023
why does paraguay need so many airports
+1
Level 50
Aug 30, 2023
I missed 3, all are S. American countries :(
+1
Level 58
Sep 20, 2023
Great Quiz! Looks like the Iberians tought the South Americans well… a little too well maybe. Surprised Europe isn’t dominating and the less developed South American Countries producing airports out the wazoo. Papua is just ridiculous though. Just nearly behind Indonesia? Surpassing the entire EU?!
+1
Level 33
Feb 12, 2024
I FORGOT ABT ECUADOR D:
+2
Level 93
Feb 23, 2024
Not sure why everyone is surprised at this - the question relates to runways rather than actual airports, so places inaccessible by road would surely dominate.

As an aside, some of the local Papuans call helicopters “whirlybird blong Jesus” which I find rather enchanting…

+1
Level 44
Apr 11, 2024
Yes, W name
+1
Level 32
Aug 5, 2024
Seeing no India here is such a shocker, considering how massive their population and land is.
+1
Level 55
Sep 22, 2024
Was NOT expecting Paraguay at any case lmao