Rural land area (sq. km) - Country Ranking - Europe

Definition: Rural land area in square kilometers, derived from urban extent grids which distinguish urban and rural areas based on a combination of population counts (persons), settlement points, and the presence of Nighttime Lights. Areas are defined as urban where contiguous lighted cells from the Nighttime Lights or approximated urban extents based on buffered settlement points for which the total population is greater than 5,000 persons.

Source: Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)/Columbia University. 2013. Urban-Rural Population and Land Area Estimates Version 2. Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.e

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Turkey 723,511.50 2010
2 Ukraine 553,950.90 2010
3 France 457,993.60 2010
4 Spain 432,138.30 2010
5 Sweden 390,507.30 2010
6 Norway 292,187.80 2010
7 Germany 291,859.20 2010
8 Finland 289,666.30 2010
9 Poland 277,840.50 2010
10 Italy 223,236.40 2010
11 Romania 219,047.90 2010
12 Belarus 198,055.80 2010
13 United Kingdom 183,648.90 2010
14 Greece 112,653.60 2010
15 Bulgaria 103,838.00 2010
16 Iceland 88,593.22 2010
17 Portugal 78,286.85 2010
18 Ireland 63,249.21 2010
19 Latvia 60,137.24 2010
20 Lithuania 59,360.14 2010
21 Croatia 51,019.57 2010
22 Bosnia and Herzegovina 49,338.42 2010
23 Estonia 40,498.62 2010
24 Denmark 33,044.12 2010
25 Moldova 31,217.15 2010
26 Switzerland 30,190.08 2010
27 Albania 26,686.71 2010
28 North Macedonia 21,962.62 2010
29 Netherlands 21,411.86 2010
30 Belgium 18,091.89 2010
31 Slovenia 17,680.89 2010
32 Cyprus 6,949.83 2010
33 Luxembourg 1,782.77 2010
34 Malta 30.63 2010
35 San Marino 3.74 2010
36 Monaco 0.48 2010

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Limitations and Exceptions: The 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) assessment report concluded that global warming is “unequivocal” and gave the strongest warning yet about the role of human activities. The report estimated that sea levels would rise approximately 49 centimeters over the next 100 years, with a range of uncertainty of 20–86 centimeters. That will lead to increased coastal flooding through direct inundation and a higher base for storm surges, allowing flooding of larger areas and higher elevations. Climate model simulations predict an increase in average surface air temperature of about 2.5°C by 2100 (Kattenberg and others 1996) and increase of “killer” heat waves during the warm season (Karl and others 1997).

Statistical Concept and Methodology: The Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project, Version 1 (GRUMPv1) urban extent grid distinguishes urban and rural areas based on a combination of population counts (persons), settlement points, and the presence of Nighttime Lights . Areas are defined as urban where contiguous lighted cells from the Nighttime Lights or approximated urban extents based on buffered settlement points for which the total population is greater than 5,000 persons. This dataset is produced by the Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) in collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), The World Bank, and Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT)

Aggregation method: Sum

Periodicity: Annual