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Data for 1991

Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 1991

1991, as UN DESA Population Division’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

The share of a country's people living in cities, measured the same way everywhere: a city is a dense, continuous cluster of at least 50,000 people, found on population grids built from census and satellite data rather than on administrative maps. It is the UN's comparable answer to how urban a country is, which national definitions cannot give.

Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 1991 covers 222 countries on 3 measures. 2 countries share the highest reading, 100.000; 42 countries share the lowest reading, 0.000. The middle country reads 27.824. Against 1990, 178 values changed (139 up, 39 down), the same countries are covered.

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Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation) · Data for 1991

Highest2 countries share it

100.000

Lowest42 countries share it

0.000

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

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 1991, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Showing 25 of 222 countries · select a heading to sort

Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 1991: every country, as published by UN DESA Population Division.
GibraltarGIBSouthern Europe100.0000.0000.000
Vatican CityVATSouthern Europe100.0000.0000.000
SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia99.3450.5590.096
Hong KongHKGEastern Asia94.3964.8610.744
MacauMACEastern Asia89.35910.5260.115
KuwaitKWTWestern Asia83.28113.1283.591
TaiwanTWNEastern Asia73.18620.9425.872
South KoreaKOREastern Asia71.85015.02813.123
Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa68.82116.47914.699
MaltaMLTSouthern Europe67.77624.9757.249
JapanJPNEastern Asia66.38323.9289.689
DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa61.45026.16912.381
North KoreaPRKEastern Asia60.38426.31713.299
ArgentinaARGSouth America58.74622.95418.300
BahrainBHRWestern Asia58.46238.8172.721
VenezuelaVENSouth America58.28026.10815.612
PalestinePSEWestern Asia57.29528.35314.352
BahamasBHSCaribbean55.60819.67624.716
IsraelISRWestern Asia54.93632.88512.179
JordanJORWestern Asia54.67528.43616.889
ChileCHLSouth America54.31118.64427.044
UruguayURYSouth America52.99231.06115.946
United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe52.81331.94415.243
IranIRNSouthern Asia52.20626.31721.478
MexicoMEXCentral America51.93822.00826.054

02In 1991

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.

Highest

  1. Gibraltarshared100.000
  2. Vatican Cityshared100.000
  3. Singapore99.345
  4. Hong Kong94.396
  5. Macau89.359

Lowest

  1. Samoashared0.000
  2. Vanuatushared0.000
  3. United States Virgin Islandsshared0.000
  4. British Virgin Islandsshared0.000
  5. Saint Vincent and the Grenadinesshared0.000

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 27.824. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

  • Population in towns and semi-dense areas (%)

    HighestMonaco100.000

    Lowest7 share it

    Middle country: 32.210

  • Population in rural areas (%)

    Highest5 share it

    Lowest3 share it

    Middle country: 32.686

031990 → 1991

Since 1990

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 178values changed, of 222 in both
  • 139 · 39rose · fell
  • 44unchanged

Rose most

Fell most

04Caveats

Read before you use

Using the series

  • One year of the 2025 release

    Every year in this series comes from UN DESA Population Division’s 2025 release, recalculated on one method, so a change from one year to the next is not a revision. It can differ from what was first published for 1991.

  • 180 distinct values among 222

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 42 countries share 0.000. Countries sharing a value share a position too.

  • Nothing missing

    Every one of the 222 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

Licence in full

What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

UN DESA Population Division (1991). Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 1991 [data set], describing 1991. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/population-in-cities/1991

0676 held

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