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

Definition: Land area below 5m is the percentage of total land where the 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 Netherlands 55.56 2010
2 Kiribati 54.64 2010
3 The Bahamas 52.90 2010
4 Macao SAR, China 37.50 2010
5 Bahrain 33.97 2010
6 Tuvalu 32.65 2010
7 Monaco 25.26 2010
8 The Gambia 16.78 2010
9 Seychelles 16.42 2010
10 Vietnam 15.41 2010
11 Denmark 14.45 2010
12 Antigua and Barbuda 13.21 2010
13 Qatar 12.12 2010
14 Cayman Islands 11.74 2010
15 Greenland 10.14 2010
16 Hong Kong SAR, China 10.05 2010
17 Bangladesh 9.64 2010
18 Cuba 8.49 2010
19 Kuwait 8.18 2010
20 Singapore 8.16 2010
21 Belgium 7.69 2010
22 Nauru 7.63 2010
23 Tonga 7.35 2010
24 Guinea-Bissau 6.52 2010
25 Belize 6.05 2010
26 Puerto Rico 5.69 2010
27 Albania 4.86 2010
28 United Arab Emirates 4.81 2010
29 Germany 4.46 2010
30 United Kingdom 4.24 2010
31 Italy 3.88 2010
32 St. Kitts and Nevis 3.75 2010
33 Myanmar 3.61 2010
34 Jamaica 3.60 2010
35 Cabo Verde 3.55 2010
36 Senegal 3.54 2010
37 Japan 3.44 2010
38 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 3.40 2010
39 Iraq 3.19 2010
40 Fiji 3.10 2010
41 Greece 3.06 2010
42 Nicaragua 3.01 2010
43 Korea 2.95 2010
44 New Caledonia 2.91 2010
45 Thailand 2.91 2010
46 Sierra Leone 2.85 2010
47 Indonesia 2.78 2010
48 Malta 2.73 2010
49 Suriname 2.70 2010
50 Cambodia 2.70 2010
51 Trinidad and Tobago 2.65 2010
52 Philippines 2.63 2010
53 Romania 2.38 2010
54 Guyana 2.38 2010
55 Iceland 2.25 2010
56 Mexico 2.17 2010
57 Sri Lanka 2.13 2010
58 Ireland 2.07 2010
59 Honduras 2.03 2010
60 Norway 1.97 2010
61 Palau 1.97 2010
62 Tunisia 1.94 2010
63 Latvia 1.91 2010
64 Grenada 1.83 2010
65 Estonia 1.81 2010
66 Dem. People's Rep. Korea 1.81 2010
67 Dominican Republic 1.74 2010
68 Canada 1.74 2010
69 Panama 1.68 2010
70 Cyprus 1.67 2010
71 France 1.65 2010
72 Egypt 1.62 2010
73 Solomon Islands 1.62 2010
74 Haiti 1.60 2010
75 St. Lucia 1.56 2010
76 Pakistan 1.53 2010
77 Uruguay 1.52 2010
78 Ecuador 1.51 2010
79 India 1.49 2010
80 Venezuela 1.46 2010
81 Portugal 1.44 2010
82 Mozambique 1.34 2010
83 Malaysia 1.33 2010
84 Mauritius 1.31 2010
85 Georgia 1.28 2010
86 Lithuania 1.22 2010
87 Ukraine 1.22 2010
88 Eritrea 1.21 2010
89 Poland 1.17 2010
90 United States 1.17 2010
91 China 1.17 2010
92 Mauritania 1.08 2010
93 Moldova 1.02 2010
94 Croatia 1.01 2010
95 Benin 1.00 2010
96 Sweden 0.98 2010
97 New Zealand 0.95 2010
98 Guinea 0.94 2010
99 São Tomé and Principe 0.90 2010
100 Argentina 0.89 2010
101 Iran 0.84 2010
102 Dominica 0.84 2010
103 Vanuatu 0.83 2010
104 Spain 0.82 2010
105 Oman 0.81 2010
106 Comoros 0.81 2010
107 El Salvador 0.79 2010
108 Russia 0.78 2010
109 Madagascar 0.75 2010
110 Djibouti 0.72 2010
111 Barbados 0.72 2010
112 Timor-Leste 0.68 2010
113 Brazil 0.61 2010
114 Australia 0.60 2010
115 Costa Rica 0.59 2010
116 Colombia 0.58 2010
117 Ghana 0.56 2010
118 Turkey 0.53 2010
119 Libya 0.53 2010
120 Finland 0.53 2010
121 Chile 0.51 2010
122 Papua New Guinea 0.47 2010
123 Nigeria 0.45 2010
124 Lebanon 0.43 2010
125 Togo 0.43 2010
126 Saudi Arabia 0.42 2010
127 Yemen 0.41 2010
128 Israel 0.41 2010
129 Guatemala 0.39 2010
130 Brunei 0.38 2010
131 Samoa 0.37 2010
132 Gabon 0.32 2010
133 Peru 0.32 2010
134 Liberia 0.30 2010
135 Somalia 0.27 2010
136 Equatorial Guinea 0.25 2010
137 Kenya 0.24 2010
138 Morocco 0.21 2010
139 Bulgaria 0.20 2010
140 Namibia 0.20 2010
141 Côte d'Ivoire 0.16 2010
142 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.13 2010
143 Angola 0.13 2010
144 Slovenia 0.10 2010
145 Tanzania 0.09 2010
146 Sudan 0.07 2010
147 South Africa 0.07 2010
148 Cameroon 0.04 2010
149 Syrian Arab Republic 0.03 2010
150 Algeria 0.03 2010
151 Dem. Rep. Congo 0.02 2010
152 Congo 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 Eswatini 0.00 2010
154 Switzerland 0.00 2010
154 Belarus 0.00 2010
154 Ethiopia 0.00 2010
154 Malawi 0.00 2010
154 Mali 0.00 2010
154 San Marino 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