How many penguins are there in the world? Scientists have tried to count them by taking pictures from space. There are about 8 million chinstrap penguins, who really look like they have a chinstrap, and about 10 million Adélie penguins. Then throw in 4 1/2 million king penguins, and almost 1 million emperor penguins. When you add in other species, it comes to around 48 million birds...and lots of cute baby penguin chicks each year.