IDA blend - Surface area (sq. km)

The value for Surface area (sq. km) in IDA blend was 4,459,474 as of 2018. As the graph below shows, over the past 57 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 4,459,474 in 2018 and a minimum value of 4,454,653 in 2013.

Definition: Surface area is a country's total area, including areas under inland bodies of water and some coastal waterways.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site.

See also:

Year Value
1961 4,457,950
1962 4,457,950
1963 4,457,950
1964 4,457,950
1965 4,457,950
1966 4,457,950
1967 4,457,950
1968 4,457,950
1969 4,457,950
1970 4,457,950
1971 4,457,950
1972 4,457,950
1973 4,457,950
1974 4,457,950
1975 4,457,950
1976 4,457,950
1977 4,457,950
1978 4,457,950
1979 4,457,950
1980 4,457,950
1981 4,457,950
1982 4,457,950
1983 4,457,950
1984 4,457,950
1985 4,457,950
1986 4,457,950
1987 4,457,950
1988 4,457,950
1989 4,457,950
1990 4,457,950
1991 4,457,950
1992 4,457,950
1993 4,457,950
1994 4,457,950
1995 4,457,950
1996 4,457,950
1997 4,457,950
1998 4,457,950
1999 4,457,950
2000 4,457,950
2001 4,457,950
2002 4,457,950
2003 4,457,950
2004 4,457,950
2005 4,457,950
2006 4,457,950
2007 4,457,950
2008 4,457,950
2009 4,457,950
2010 4,457,950
2011 4,457,950
2012 4,457,950
2013 4,454,653
2014 4,459,474
2015 4,459,474
2016 4,459,474
2017 4,459,474
2018 4,459,474

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.

Aggregation method: Sum

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Environment Indicators

Sub-Topic: Land use