Rural land area where elevation is below 5 meters (% of total land area) - Country Ranking

Definition: Rural land area below 5m is the percentage of total land where the rural land elevation is 5 meters or less.

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 Kiribati 54.56 2010
2 The Bahamas 51.94 2010
3 Netherlands 32.91 2010
4 Tuvalu 32.65 2010
5 Macao SAR, China 19.81 2010
6 The Gambia 16.08 2010
7 Vietnam 14.61 2010
8 Seychelles 14.22 2010
9 Bahrain 12.67 2010
10 Denmark 11.59 2010
11 Qatar 11.44 2010
12 Greenland 10.14 2010
13 Bangladesh 8.99 2010
14 Cuba 8.33 2010
15 Antigua and Barbuda 7.46 2010
16 Kuwait 6.79 2010
17 Nauru 6.65 2010
18 Guinea-Bissau 6.43 2010
19 Tonga 5.78 2010
20 Belize 5.66 2010
21 Albania 4.56 2010
22 Hong Kong SAR, China 4.46 2010
23 Singapore 3.71 2010
24 Germany 3.55 2010
25 Myanmar 3.54 2010
26 Senegal 3.42 2010
27 United Arab Emirates 3.30 2010
28 Cabo Verde 3.27 2010
29 Cayman Islands 3.19 2010
30 Monaco 3.09 2010
31 United Kingdom 3.04 2010
32 Nicaragua 2.99 2010
33 Iraq 2.88 2010
34 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 2.86 2010
35 Sierra Leone 2.83 2010
36 New Caledonia 2.80 2010
37 Belgium 2.77 2010
38 Cambodia 2.63 2010
39 Italy 2.58 2010
40 Indonesia 2.56 2010
41 Suriname 2.48 2010
42 Fiji 2.47 2010
43 Jamaica 2.41 2010
44 Philippines 2.38 2010
45 Korea 2.31 2010
46 Greece 2.28 2010
47 Romania 2.27 2010
48 Iceland 2.22 2010
49 Guyana 2.18 2010
50 Mexico 2.07 2010
51 Thailand 2.07 2010
52 St. Kitts and Nevis 2.01 2010
53 Honduras 2.01 2010
54 Palau 1.89 2010
55 Trinidad and Tobago 1.73 2010
56 Sri Lanka 1.73 2010
57 Dem. People's Rep. Korea 1.72 2010
58 Canada 1.72 2010
59 Norway 1.71 2010
60 Estonia 1.70 2010
61 Ireland 1.69 2010
62 Dominican Republic 1.63 2010
63 Solomon Islands 1.60 2010
64 Panama 1.57 2010
65 Pakistan 1.52 2010
66 Haiti 1.51 2010
67 Malta 1.43 2010
68 Uruguay 1.40 2010
69 Tunisia 1.40 2010
70 India 1.38 2010
71 Venezuela 1.36 2010
72 Grenada 1.35 2010
73 Egypt 1.34 2010
74 Mozambique 1.31 2010
75 Latvia 1.30 2010
76 Ecuador 1.28 2010
77 Eritrea 1.20 2010
78 Georgia 1.13 2010
79 Ukraine 1.09 2010
80 Lithuania 1.08 2010
81 Mauritius 1.07 2010
82 Mauritania 1.06 2010
83 France 1.05 2010
84 Malaysia 1.03 2010
85 United States 0.98 2010
86 Japan 0.94 2010
87 Poland 0.94 2010
88 Guinea 0.91 2010
89 China 0.91 2010
90 Benin 0.90 2010
91 Moldova 0.87 2010
92 Puerto Rico 0.87 2010
93 Portugal 0.85 2010
94 New Zealand 0.84 2010
95 Argentina 0.83 2010
96 São Tomé and Principe 0.83 2010
97 Croatia 0.82 2010
98 Vanuatu 0.81 2010
99 Iran 0.79 2010
100 Cyprus 0.79 2010
101 Russia 0.77 2010
102 Comoros 0.77 2010
103 St. Lucia 0.74 2010
104 Madagascar 0.73 2010
105 El Salvador 0.71 2010
106 Oman 0.71 2010
107 Timor-Leste 0.66 2010
108 Sweden 0.65 2010
109 Djibouti 0.64 2010
110 Australia 0.58 2010
111 Brazil 0.57 2010
112 Costa Rica 0.56 2010
113 Colombia 0.53 2010
114 Dominica 0.51 2010
115 Ghana 0.51 2010
116 Chile 0.50 2010
117 Libya 0.47 2010
118 Papua New Guinea 0.47 2010
119 Turkey 0.43 2010
120 Spain 0.43 2010
121 Nigeria 0.41 2010
122 Finland 0.41 2010
123 Yemen 0.38 2010
124 Guatemala 0.37 2010
125 Samoa 0.34 2010
126 Lebanon 0.33 2010
127 Togo 0.33 2010
128 Saudi Arabia 0.32 2010
129 Gabon 0.31 2010
130 Peru 0.31 2010
131 Somalia 0.27 2010
132 Liberia 0.25 2010
133 Barbados 0.25 2010
134 Kenya 0.24 2010
135 Equatorial Guinea 0.24 2010
136 Namibia 0.19 2010
137 Morocco 0.17 2010
138 Bulgaria 0.13 2010
139 Angola 0.12 2010
140 Côte d'Ivoire 0.12 2010
141 Brunei 0.12 2010
142 Israel 0.11 2010
143 Tanzania 0.08 2010
144 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.07 2010
145 Sudan 0.07 2010
146 South Africa 0.06 2010
147 Cameroon 0.03 2010
148 Syrian Arab Republic 0.02 2010
149 Dem. Rep. Congo 0.02 2010
150 Algeria 0.02 2010
151 Congo 0.01 2010
152 Slovenia 0.01 2010
153 Jordan 0.00 2010
154 Lao PDR 0.00 2010
154 Luxembourg 0.00 2010
154 North Macedonia 0.00 2010
154 San Marino 0.00 2010
154 Malawi 0.00 2010
154 Mali 0.00 2010
154 Ethiopia 0.00 2010
154 Switzerland 0.00 2010
154 Belarus 0.00 2010
154 Eswatini 0.00 2010

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Development Relevance: Scientists use the terms climate change and global warming to refer to the gradual increase in the Earth's surface temperature that has accelerated since the industrial revolution and especially over the past two decades. Most global warming has been caused by human activities that have changed the chemical composition of the atmosphere through a buildup of greenhouse gases - primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Rising global temperatures will cause sea level rise and alter local climate conditions, affecting forests, crop yields, and water supplies, and may affect human health, animals, and many types of ecosystems.

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: Elevation data used to generate the low elevation coastal zones come from the SRTM3 Enhanced Global Map developed by ISCIENCES. The ISCIENCES digital elevation model was created using NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data processed to 3 arc-seconds (SRTM3).

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual