Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) | Land area (sq. km)

Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes. Development relevance: Land 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, land 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 does not include 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
Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)
Records
63
Source
Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) | Land area (sq. km)
1960
1961 19942192
1962 19942192
1963 19942192
1964 19942192
1965 19942192
1966 19942192
1967 19942192
1968 19942192
1969 19942192
1970 19942192
1971 19942192
1972 19942192
1973 19942192
1974 19942192
1975 19942332
1976 19942202
1977 19942202
1978 19942202
1979 19942202
1980 19942112
1981 19942112
1982 19942112
1983 19942112
1984 19942112
1985 19942112
1986 19942112
1987 19942112
1988 19942112
1989 19942112
1990 19942112
1991 19942112
1992 19942112
1993 19942112
1994 19942112
1995 19942112
1996 19942112
1997 19942112
1998 19913632
1999 19913632
2000 19913632
2001 19913632
2002 19913632
2003 19913632
2004 19913632
2005 19913632
2006 19913632
2007 19913632
2008 19913632
2009 19913632
2010 19913632
2011 19913632
2012 19913632
2013 19913632
2014 19913412
2015 19913412
2016 19913412
2017 19913412
2018 19913472
2019 19912693
2020 19912693
2021 19912693
2022

Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) | Land area (sq. km)

Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes. Development relevance: Land 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, land 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 does not include 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
Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)
Records
63
Source