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Data for 1979

Urban Population Share (National Definitions), 1979

1979, 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), 1979 covers 222 countries. 10 countries share the highest reading, 100.000; Burundi is lowest, at 4.181. The middle country reads 47.041. Against 1978, 212 values changed (192 up, 20 down), the same countries are covered.

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Urban Population Share (National Definitions) · Data for 1979

Highest10 countries share it

100.000

LowestBurundi

4.181

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), 1979, 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), 1979: every country, as published by UN DESA Population Division.
AnguillaAIACaribbean100.000
BermudaBMUNorthern America100.000
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 Asia98.358
KuwaitKWTWestern Asia93.898
AndorraANDSouthern Europe91.918
Hong KongHKGEastern Asia91.123
MaltaMLTSouthern Europe89.550
GuamGUMMicronesia88.782
IsraelISRWestern Asia88.488
IcelandISLNorthern Europe87.878
Northern Mariana IslandsMNPMicronesia86.643
AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand85.853
UruguayURYSouth America84.524
DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe83.542
New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand83.303
SwedenSWENorthern Europe83.057
ArgentinaARGSouth America82.475

02In 1979

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

  1. Anguillashared100.000
  2. Bermudashared100.000
  3. Cayman Islandsshared100.000
  4. Gibraltarshared100.000
  5. Saint Martinshared100.000

Lowest

  1. Burundi4.181
  2. Rwanda4.752
  3. Uganda6.651
  4. Burkina Faso7.814
  5. South Sudan8.491

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 47.041. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031978 → 1979

Since 1978

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 212values changed, of 222 in both
  • 192 · 20rose · fell
  • 10unchanged

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 1979.

  • 213 distinct values among 222

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 14 decimals. 10 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 (1979). Urban Population Share (National Definitions), 1979 [data set], describing 1979. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/urban-population-share/1979

0676 held

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