Sub-Saharan Africa (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
Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)
Records
63
Source
Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) | Land area (sq. km)
1960
1961 23618191
1962 23618191
1963 23618191
1964 23618191
1965 23618191
1966 23618191
1967 23618191
1968 23618191
1969 23618191
1970 23618191
1971 23618191
1972 23618191
1973 23618191
1974 23617791
1975 23617391
1976 23617391
1977 23617391
1978 23617391
1979 23617391
1980 23617391
1981 23617391
1982 23617391
1983 23617391
1984 23617391
1985 23617391
1986 23617391
1987 23617391
1988 23617391
1989 23617391
1990 23617391
1991 23617391
1992 23617391
1993 23617391
1994 23617391
1995 23617391
1996 23617391
1997 23617391
1998 23617391
1999 23617391
2000 23617391
2001 23617391
2002 23617391
2003 23617391
2004 23765970.922
2005 23766016.092
2006 23766008.252
2007 23766054.665
2008 23766016.89
2009 23766049.284
2010 23766737.055
2011 23766987.05
2012 23890917.142
2013 23890879.326
2014 23890832.467
2015 23890886.128
2016 23890893.968
2017 23890882.053
2018 23890897.143
2019 23890909.404
2020 23890863.094
2021 23890863.094
2022

Sub-Saharan Africa (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
Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)
Records
63
Source