How many castles there are, where they stand, and when they were built: measured across the 9,079 castles, fortresses, palaces and ruins of the Castle Map atlas.
Every number on this page is computed from the atlas's open dataset: the same 9,079 landmarks you can explore on the interactive castle map or download free (CC0). The atlas is curated rather than exhaustive, so these are statistics about the world's significant castles: each entry has a documented story, a real photo and exact coordinates. Cite anything here: a link back is appreciated. Last computed .
How many castles are there in the world?
No one has counted them all. Europe alone holds tens of thousands of castle sites (estimates for Germany alone run to some 25,000), and most are unnamed ruins, earthworks or private homes. The Castle Map atlas curates the 9,079 most significant castles, fortresses, palaces and ruins worldwide: 3,389 castles, 1,929 palaces & châteaux, 1,644 fortresses and 2,117 ruins, spread across 155 countries. Country by country: how many castles every country has.
Which country has the most castles?
France leads with 793, just ahead of Germany (711) and Spain (607). The atlas counts England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland separately: combined, the United Kingdom holds 732, more than any single country.
Among the 81 countries with at least ten atlas entries, Luxembourg has the most significant castles per capita: 73.1 per million residents (roughly one for every 14,000 people). Malta (70.9) and Scotland (41.1) follow. Among countries of more than five million people, Scotland leads with 41.1 per million.
Malta is the most castle-dense country on Earth: 1234.2 significant castles per 10,000 km² (about one every 8 km²). Among countries larger than a city-state, Switzerland lives up to its reputation as castle country with 51.6 per 10,000 km², ahead of Wales (51.5) and Netherlands (47.6).
Countries with ≥ 10 atlas entries. Population: UN 2024 estimates; area: total country figures. Rates measure significant castles in the atlas, not every fortified site.
When were castles built?
Of the 7,435 dated entries (81.9% of the atlas), the busiest founding century is the 13th (the high-medieval castle boom), and 48.9% were founded between 1000 and 1500. But building never stopped: castle foundings peak in the 13th century, palace foundings in the 18th, and the median dated entry is as late as 1411. Another 888 entries (11.9%) date from 1801 onward: the romantic revival that produced Neuschwanstein.
≤ 8th c.377
9th c.88
10th c.193
11th c.436
12th c.756
13th c.1,080
14th c.755
15th c.554
16th c.891
17th c.721
18th c.696
19th c.717
20th c.169
21st c.2
The oldest castles in the world
The oldest dated landmark in the atlas is Los Millares in Spain, c. 3025 BC. A caveat borne of honesty: ancient sites usually carry the date of the first fortification on the spot, not the standing structure, Erebuni Fortress in modern Yerevan, founded by inscription in the 8th century BC, is the textbook case. The purpose-built medieval castle emerged only around the 10th century AD.
No one has counted them all: Europe alone has tens of thousands of castle sites, and estimates for Germany alone run to some 25,000. The Castle Map atlas curates the 9,079 most significant castles, fortresses, palaces and ruins worldwide: 3,389 castles, 1,929 palaces, 1,644 fortresses and 2,117 ruins across 155 countries. Every statistic on this page is measured within that curated set.
Which country has the most castles?
In the Castle Map atlas, France has the most with 793 entries, followed by Germany (711) and Spain (607). Counted together, the United Kingdom's constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) hold 732, more than any single country.
Which country has the most castles per capita?
Luxembourg, with 73.1 significant castles per million residents: roughly one for every 14,000 people. Malta (70.9) and Scotland (41.1) follow. Among countries of more than five million people, Scotland leads with 41.1 per million.
What is the oldest castle in the world?
It depends on the definition. The oldest dated landmark in the atlas is Los Millares in Spain, c. 3025 BC. Ancient sites usually carry the date of the first fortification on the spot: the purpose-built medieval castle only emerged around the 10th century AD.
When were most castles built?
The single busiest century in the atlas is the 13th: 1,080 dated entries were founded then, and 48.9% of all dated entries were founded between 1000 and 1500. Palaces skew much later, which is why the median dated entry was founded in 1411: castle-building peaks in the 13th century, palace-building in the 18th.
Are new castles still being built?
Yes, 888 atlas entries (11.9% of dated ones) were founded in 1801 or later, most of them romantic-revival castles and palaces such as Neuschwanstein Castle, begun in 1869.
Cite these statistics
Everything on this page is free to quote and republish. The underlying dataset is CC0 and free to download; it is also citable via DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21322359. A suggested credit:
Source: Castle Map, Castle statistics (https://thecastlemap.com/statistics/), data CC0.
France
Germany
Spain
Italy
Poland
England
Japan
Czech Republic
Austria
Scotland
India
Switzerland
Portugal
Sweden
Netherlands
Luxembourg
Malta
Wales
Ireland
Estonia
Slovakia
Latvia
Ukraine
Iran
Russia
Hungary
Greece
Turkey
Belgium
Romania
United States
China
Brazil
Croatia
Denmark
South Korea
Slovenia
Georgia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Indonesia
Morocco
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Northern Ireland
Syria
Egypt
Ghana
Serbia
Tunisia
Lithuania
Pakistan
Albania
Armenia
Finland
Bulgaria
Canada
Norway
Algeria
Israel
Jordan
Saudi Arabia
Taiwan
Thailand
United Arab Emirates
Peru
Lebanon
Chile
Iraq
Sri Lanka
Australia
Bhutan
Philippines
Oman
Afghanistan
Cuba
Malaysia
Montenegro
Uzbekistan
Kosovo
Mexico
Vietnam