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

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 Sudan 2,489,484.00 2010
2 Algeria 2,285,676.00 2010
3 Dem. Rep. Congo 2,278,812.00 2010
4 Libya 1,606,875.00 2010
5 Angola 1,248,199.00 2010
6 Mali 1,243,208.00 2010
7 Ethiopia 1,117,893.00 2010
8 Mauritania 1,041,102.00 2010
9 Egypt 951,268.90 2010
10 Tanzania 886,549.60 2010
11 Nigeria 880,103.30 2010
12 Namibia 822,303.10 2010
13 Mozambique 769,595.10 2010
14 Morocco 659,759.40 2010
15 Somalia 634,302.60 2010
16 Madagascar 587,832.90 2010
17 Kenya 576,333.80 2010
18 Cameroon 459,153.20 2010
19 Congo 338,427.10 2010
20 Côte d'Ivoire 314,812.30 2010
21 Gabon 261,381.80 2010
22 Guinea 243,431.20 2010
23 Ghana 224,697.50 2010
24 Senegal 193,255.50 2010
25 Tunisia 144,635.90 2010
26 Eritrea 122,239.80 2010
27 Benin 113,917.00 2010
28 Liberia 95,634.38 2010
29 Malawi 92,909.46 2010
30 Sierra Leone 71,494.84 2010
31 Togo 55,426.64 2010
32 South Africa 53,460.31 2010
33 Guinea-Bissau 33,629.70 2010
34 Equatorial Guinea 26,800.92 2010
35 Djibouti 21,411.55 2010
36 Eswatini 16,551.39 2010
37 The Gambia 10,461.87 2010
38 Cabo Verde 3,913.57 2010
39 Comoros 1,478.79 2010
40 São Tomé and Principe 933.32 2010
41 Mauritius 727.65 2010
42 Seychelles 187.97 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