Least developed countries: UN classification | 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
Least developed countries: UN classification
Records
63
Source
Least developed countries: UN classification | Land area (sq. km)
1960
1961 20134524
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1973 20134524
1974 20134124
1975 20133724
1976 20133724
1977 20133724
1978 20133724
1979 20133724
1980 20133724
1981 20133724
1982 20133724
1983 20133724
1984 20133724
1985 20133724
1986 20133724
1987 20133724
1988 20133724
1989 20133724
1990 20133724
1991 20133724
1992 20133724
1993 20133724
1994 20126801
1995 20126801
1996 20126801
1997 20126801
1998 20126801
1999 20126801
2000 20127151
2001 20127151
2002 20127151
2003 20127151
2004 20273927.922
2005 20273913.092
2006 20274015.252
2007 20274111.665
2008 20273863.89
2009 20273886.284
2010 20274534.055
2011 20274847.05
2012 20398637.142
2013 20398529.326
2014 20398482.467
2015 20398536.128
2016 20398270.968
2017 20398229.053
2018 20398190.143
2019 20398202.404
2020 20398133.094
2021 20398133.094
2022
Least developed countries: UN classification | 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
Least developed countries: UN classification
Records
63
Source