Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) | 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
Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)
Records
63
Source
Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) | Surface area (sq. km)
1960
1961 20317276
1962 20317276
1963 20317276
1964 20317276
1965 20317276
1966 20317276
1967 20317276
1968 20317276
1969 20317276
1970 20317276
1971 20317276
1972 20317276
1973 20317276
1974 20317276
1975 20317276
1976 20317276
1977 20317276
1978 20317276
1979 20317276
1980 20317186
1981 20317186
1982 20317186
1983 20317186
1984 20317186
1985 20317186
1986 20317186
1987 20317186
1988 20317186
1989 20317186
1990 20317186
1991 20317186
1992 20317186
1993 20317186
1994 20317186
1995 20317186
1996 20317186
1997 20317186
1998 20289996
1999 20289996
2000 20289996
2001 20289996
2002 20289996
2003 20289996
2004 20289996
2005 20289996
2006 20289996
2007 20289996
2008 20289996
2009 20289996
2010 20289998
2011 20289998
2012 20289996
2013 20289997
2014 20289892
2015 20289892
2016 20290496
2017 20290496
2018 20290497
2019 20388666.31
2020 20387535.36
2021 20387535.36
2022

Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) | 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
Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)
Records
63
Source