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
20317276 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
20317186 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
20289996 1998
20289996 1999
20289996 2000
20289996 2001
20289996 2002
20289996 2003
20289996 2004
20289996 2005
20289996 2006
20289996 2007
20289996 2008
20289996 2009
20289998 2010
20289998 2011
20289996 2012
20289997 2013
20289892 2014
20289892 2015
20290496 2016
20290496 2017
20290497 2018
20388666.31 2019
20387535.36 2020
20387535.36 2021
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