Africa Western and Central | 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 Western and Central
Records
63
Source
Africa Western and Central | Surface area (sq. km)
1960
1961 9166270
1962 9166270
1963 9166270
1964 9166270
1965 9166270
1966 9166270
1967 9166270
1968 9166270
1969 9166270
1970 9166270
1971 9166270
1972 9166270
1973 9166270
1974 9166270
1975 9166270
1976 9166270
1977 9166270
1978 9166270
1979 9166270
1980 9166270
1981 9166270
1982 9166270
1983 9166270
1984 9166270
1985 9166270
1986 9166270
1987 9166270
1988 9166270
1989 9166270
1990 9166270
1991 9166270
1992 9166270
1993 9166270
1994 9166270
1995 9166270
1996 9166270
1997 9166270
1998 9166270
1999 9166270
2000 9166270
2001 9166270
2002 9166270
2003 9166270
2004 9166270
2005 9166270
2006 9166270
2007 9166270
2008 9166270
2009 9166270
2010 9166270
2011 9166270
2012 9166270
2013 9166270
2014 9166270
2015 9166270
2016 9166270
2017 9166270
2018 9166270
2019 9166260
2020 9166260
2021 9166260
2022

Africa Western and Central | 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 Western and Central
Records
63
Source