IBRD only - Surface area (sq. km)

The value for Surface area (sq. km) in IBRD only was 73,017,740 as of 2018. As the graph below shows, over the past 57 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 73,017,740 in 2018 and a minimum value of 72,980,180 in 2010.

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 73,010,130
1962 73,010,130
1963 73,010,130
1964 73,010,130
1965 73,010,130
1966 73,010,130
1967 73,010,130
1968 73,010,130
1969 73,010,130
1970 73,010,130
1971 73,010,130
1972 73,010,130
1973 73,010,130
1974 73,010,130
1975 73,010,130
1976 73,010,130
1977 73,008,010
1978 73,008,010
1979 73,010,050
1980 73,010,030
1981 73,010,030
1982 73,010,030
1983 73,010,030
1984 73,010,030
1985 73,010,030
1986 73,010,030
1987 73,008,700
1988 73,008,700
1989 73,008,700
1990 73,009,380
1991 73,009,860
1992 73,009,900
1993 73,009,980
1994 73,009,980
1995 73,010,000
1996 73,010,060
1997 73,010,060
1998 72,982,800
1999 72,982,800
2000 72,980,930
2001 72,980,940
2002 72,980,990
2003 72,981,000
2004 72,981,070
2005 72,982,970
2006 72,982,960
2007 72,982,960
2008 72,982,800
2009 72,980,260
2010 72,980,180
2011 72,980,180
2012 73,011,670
2013 73,011,100
2014 73,011,260
2015 73,013,860
2016 73,014,460
2017 73,017,700
2018 73,017,740

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