Data for 1979

Arable Land per Person, 1979

Name: Arable Land per Person, 1979
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
License: https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en/

1979, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Arable Land per Person, 1979 covers 172 countries. Niger is highest, at 1.67104; Kuwait is lowest, at 0.00070. The middle country reads 0.19208. Against 1978, 172 values changed (26 up, 146 down), the same countries are covered.

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Arable Land per Person · Data for 1979

HighestNiger

1.67104

LowestKuwait

0.00070

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

172countries
1measure
1979the year it describes
172distinct values18 decimals, as published
Sep 6, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Arable Land per Person, 1979, as published. FAO ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 172 countries · select a heading to sort

Arable Land per Person, 1979: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1.67104
2	Canada`CAN`Northern America	1.65345
3	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	1.18989
4	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.91542
5	United States`USA`Northern America	0.83871
6	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.76739
7	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.71840
8	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.71581
9	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.69852
10	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.69694
11	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.68029
12	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.60379
13	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.58033
14	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.57925
15	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.57915
16	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.55250
17	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.54744
18	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.54115
19	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.52754
20	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.51634
21	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.50438
22	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.50360
23	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.49083
24	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.47057
25	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.44691
26	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.44440
27	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.44353
28	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.44154
29	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.43046
30	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.43029
31	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.41886
32	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.41569
33	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.41328
34	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.40947
35	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.39862
36	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.39623
37	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.39587
38	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.39542
39	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.39305
40	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.38497
41	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.38319
42	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.37956
43	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.37844
44	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.36956
45	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.36823
46	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.36484
47	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.35943
48	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	0.34631
49	Chile`CHL`South America	0.34295
50	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.34004
51	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.33920
52	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.33781
53	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.32260
54	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.31878
55	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.31650
56	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.31379
57	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.31103
58	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.30676
59	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.30512
60	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.30351
61	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.29819
62	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.29534
63	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.29350
64	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.28841
65	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.27253
66	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.27117
67	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.26786
68	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.26023
69	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.25496
70	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.25131
71	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.24579
72	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.24360
73	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.24353
74	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.24162
75	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.24066
76	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.22704
77	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.22325
78	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.22270
79	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.22124
80	Peru`PER`South America	0.20761
81	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.20331
82	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.20174
83	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.19879
84	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.19877
85	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.19830
86	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.19811
87	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.18606
88	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	0.18590
89	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.18565
90	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	0.18240
91	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.17966
92	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.16826
93	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.16403
94	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.16383
95	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.15940
96	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.15924
97	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.15656
98	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	0.15640
99	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.15433
100	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.15360
101	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.14845
102	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.14809
103	Colombia`COL`South America	0.14489
104	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.14357
105	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.14356
106	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.14162
107	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.13874
108	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.13789
109	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	0.13687
110	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.13610
111	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.13509
112	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.12499
113	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.12372
114	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.12233
115	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.12164
116	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.12141
117	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.11894
118	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.11877
119	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.11620
120	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.11109
121	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.10610
122	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.10528
123	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.09938
124	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.09799
125	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	0.09594
126	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	0.09516
127	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.08584
128	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.08569
129	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	0.07779
130	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.07632
131	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.07504
132	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.06369
133	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.06368
134	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.06115
135	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.05988
136	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.05920
137	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.05868
138	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.05512
139	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.05381
140	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.05379
141	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.05218
142	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	0.05198
143	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	0.04832
144	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	0.04726
145	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	0.04690
146	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.04213
147	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.04149
148	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.03999
149	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	0.03379
150	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	0.03324
151	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	0.03142
152	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.03067
153	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	0.03062
154	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	0.02915
155	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.02423
156	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.02217
157	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	0.02025
158	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.01871
159	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	0.01858
160	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.01595
161	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	0.01320
162	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.01316
163	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	0.01223
164	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.01039
165	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.00773
166	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.00582
167	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	0.00561
168	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.00328
169	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.00162
170	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	0.00151
171	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.00084
172	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.00070

02In 1979

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Niger1.67104
2Canada1.65345
3Australia1.18989
4Argentina0.91542
5United States0.83871

Lowest

172Kuwait0.00070
171Singapore0.00084
170Faroe Islands0.00151
169Hong Kong0.00162
168Djibouti0.00328

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 0.19208. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031978 → 1979

Since 1978

What changed between 1978 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
172values changed, of 172 in both
26 · 146rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Australia1.15859 → 1.18989+0.03130
Paraguay0.47943 → 0.50438+0.02495
Brazil0.36380 → 0.37844+0.01464
Iran0.38226 → 0.39542+0.01316
Cameroon0.70383 → 0.71581+0.01198

Fell most

Zambia0.49804 → 0.40947−0.08858
Libya0.57330 → 0.54115−0.03214
Botswana0.47219 → 0.44691−0.02527
Gambia0.26533 → 0.24066−0.02467
Somalia0.20229 → 0.17966−0.02263

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from FAO’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1979.
The position is ours
FAO publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 172 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
172 rows · 7.0 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download arable-land-per-person-1979-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
FAO’s own file, on its own site.
AG.LND.ARBL.HA.PC

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (1979). Arable Land per Person, 1979 [data set], describing 1979. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/arable-land-per-person/1979

0663 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Arable Land per Person, 1978
172 countries
The year after ›
Arable Land per Person, 1980
172 countries
All of them
Arable Land per Person: every year
63 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions