Africa Eastern and Southern | Surface area (sq. km)

Surface area is a country's total area, including areas under inland bodies of water and some coastal waterways. 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. Including areas of former states; for example, the areas of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) are counted in Russian Federationand other successor states.
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
Africa Eastern and Southern
Records
63
Source
Africa Eastern and Southern | Surface area (sq. km)
1960
1961 15106741
1962 15106741
1963 15106741
1964 15106741
1965 15106741
1966 15106741
1967 15106741
1968 15106741
1969 15106741
1970 15106741
1971 15106741
1972 15106741
1973 15106741
1974 15106741
1975 15106741
1976 15106741
1977 15106741
1978 15106741
1979 15106741
1980 15106741
1981 15106741
1982 15106741
1983 15106741
1984 15106741
1985 15106741
1986 15106741
1987 15106741
1988 15106741
1989 15106741
1990 15106741
1991 15106741
1992 15106741
1993 15106741
1994 15106741
1995 15106741
1996 15106741
1997 15106741
1998 15106741
1999 15106741
2000 15106741
2001 15106741
2002 15106741
2003 15106741
2004 15142775.114
2005 15142774.169
2006 15142743.93
2007 15142711.599
2008 15142728.542
2009 15142740.862
2010 15142735.451
2011 15142981.029
2012 15162047.533
2013 15162015.412
2014 15162001.958
2015 15162055.541
2016 15162042.92
2017 15162037.283
2018 15162043.383
2019 15162047.118
2020 15162005.871
2021 15162005.871
2022

Africa Eastern and Southern | Surface area (sq. km)

Surface area is a country's total area, including areas under inland bodies of water and some coastal waterways. 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. Including areas of former states; for example, the areas of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) are counted in Russian Federationand other successor states.
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
Africa Eastern and Southern
Records
63
Source