Arab World - Surface area (sq. km)

The value for Surface area (sq. km) in Arab World was 13,142,340 as of 2018. As the graph below shows, over the past 57 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 13,142,640 in 2012 and a minimum value of 11,288,520 in 2009.

Definition: Surface area is a country's total area, including areas under inland bodies of water and some coastal waterways.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site.

See also:

Year Value
1961 11,290,990
1962 11,290,990
1963 11,290,990
1964 11,290,990
1965 11,290,990
1966 11,290,990
1967 11,290,990
1968 11,290,990
1969 11,290,990
1970 11,290,990
1971 11,290,990
1972 11,290,990
1973 11,290,990
1974 11,290,990
1975 11,290,990
1976 11,290,990
1977 11,290,990
1978 11,290,990
1979 11,290,990
1980 11,290,990
1981 11,290,990
1982 11,290,990
1983 11,290,990
1984 11,290,990
1985 11,290,990
1986 11,290,990
1987 11,290,990
1988 11,290,990
1989 11,290,990
1990 11,290,990
1991 11,290,990
1992 11,291,010
1993 11,291,010
1994 11,291,010
1995 11,291,010
1996 11,291,010
1997 11,291,010
1998 11,291,010
1999 11,291,010
2000 11,291,010
2001 11,291,010
2002 11,291,010
2003 11,291,020
2004 11,291,030
2005 11,291,040
2006 11,291,040
2007 11,291,050
2008 11,291,060
2009 11,288,520
2010 11,288,520
2011 13,142,630
2012 13,142,640
2013 13,142,450
2014 13,142,330
2015 13,142,340
2016 13,142,340
2017 13,142,340
2018 13,142,340

Development Relevance: Total surface area is particularly important for understanding an economy's agricultural capacity and the environmental effects of human activity. Innovations in satellite mapping and computer databases have resulted in more precise measurements of land and water areas. Population, surface area, income, and output are basic measures of the size of an economy. They also provide a broad indication of actual and potential resources. Land area is therefore used as one of the major indicator to normalize other indicators.

Limitations and Exceptions: The data are collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations through annual questionnaires. The FAO tries to impose standard definitions and reporting methods, but complete consistency across countries and over time is not possible. The data collected from official national sources through the questionnaire are supplemented with information from official secondary data sources. The secondary sources cover official country data from websites of national ministries, national publications and related country data reported by various international organizations.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Total land area includes inland water bodies such as major rivers and lakes. Variations from year to year may be due to updated or revised data rather than to change in area.

Aggregation method: Sum

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Environment Indicators

Sub-Topic: Land use