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Data for 1980

Urban Population Share (National Definitions), 1980

1980, 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), 1980 covers 222 countries. 10 countries share the highest reading, 100.000; Burundi is lowest, at 4.343. The middle country reads 47.236. Against 1979, 212 values changed (192 up, 20 down), the same countries are covered.

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Urban Population Share (National Definitions) · Data for 1980

Highest10 countries share it

100.000

LowestBurundi

4.343

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), 1980, 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), 1980: 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 Asia98.482
KuwaitKWTWestern Asia94.770
AndorraANDSouthern Europe92.931
Hong KongHKGEastern Asia91.480
MaltaMLTSouthern Europe89.586
IsraelISRWestern Asia88.830
GuamGUMMicronesia88.796
IcelandISLNorthern Europe88.087
Northern Mariana IslandsMNPMicronesia86.729
AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand85.777
UruguayURYSouth America84.983
DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe83.770
New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand83.405
SwedenSWENorthern Europe83.088
QatarQATWestern Asia83.000

02In 1980

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. Burundi4.343
  2. Rwanda4.816
  3. Uganda6.756
  4. Burkina Faso8.417
  5. South Sudan8.490

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 47.236. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031979 → 1980

Since 1979

  • +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 1980.

  • 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 (1980). Urban Population Share (National Definitions), 1980 [data set], describing 1980. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/urban-population-share/1980

0676 held

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