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Data for 1954

Urban Population Share (National Definitions), 1954

1954, as UN DESA Population Division’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

The share of a country's people living in places its own government classifies as urban. It is the familiar per-cent-urban figure and tracks one of the great shifts of the last century — but each country draws the line between town and countryside in its own way.

Urban Population Share (National Definitions), 1954 covers 222 countries. 9 countries share the highest reading, 100.000; Burundi is lowest, at 1.387. The middle country reads 29.634. Against 1953, 210 values changed (199 up, 11 down), the same countries are covered.

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Urban Population Share (National Definitions) · Data for 1954

Highest9 countries share it

100.000

LowestBurundi

1.387

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

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Urban Population Share (National Definitions), 1954, 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

Urban Population Share (National Definitions), 1954: every country, as published by UN DESA Population Division.
AnguillaAIACaribbean100.000
Cayman IslandsCYMCaribbean100.000
GibraltarGIBSouthern Europe100.000
MonacoMCOWestern Europe100.000
NauruNRUMicronesia100.000
Saint MartinMAFCaribbean100.000
SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia100.000
Sint MaartenSXMCaribbean100.000
Vatican CityVATSouthern Europe100.000
MacauMACEastern Asia95.841
MaltaMLTSouthern Europe89.887
Hong KongHKGEastern Asia85.200
United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe79.955
Northern Mariana IslandsMNPMicronesia79.359
UruguayURYSouth America78.907
AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand78.732
IcelandISLNorthern Europe76.531
BahrainBHRWestern Asia75.841
GermanyDEUWestern Europe72.737
CuraçaoCUWCaribbean71.189
IsraelISRWestern Asia71.000
DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe70.741
KuwaitKWTWestern Asia68.294
LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe67.776
SwedenSWENorthern Europe67.712

02In 1954

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

  1. Anguillashared100.000
  2. Cayman Islandsshared100.000
  3. Gibraltarshared100.000
  4. Saint Martinshared100.000
  5. Monacoshared100.000

Lowest

  1. Burundi1.387
  2. Solomon Islands1.470
  3. Lesotho1.935
  4. Papua New Guinea2.003
  5. Eswatini2.058

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 29.634. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031953 → 1954

Since 1953

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 210values changed, of 222 in both
  • 199 · 11rose · fell
  • 12unchanged

Rose most

Fell most

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

  • 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 1954.

  • 214 distinct values among 222

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 14 decimals. 9 countries share 100.000. 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 (1954). Urban Population Share (National Definitions), 1954 [data set], describing 1954. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/urban-population-share/1954

0676 held

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