Africa Western and Central: Land area (sq. km)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Africa Western and Central's land area (sq. km) did not change 0% on 2022 (from 9.05 million to 9.05 million).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was −0% and a typical year strayed about 0% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0% in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 0% in 1975. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 the straight-line trend is downward, about 1.12 a year. A straight line explains 68% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

What this measures

Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes.

Limitations: The data are collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations through annual questionnaires. The FAO tries to impose standard definitions and reporting methods, but complete consistency across countries and over time is not possible. The data collected from official national sources through the questionnaire are supplemented with information from official secondary data sources. The secondary sources cover official country data from websites of national ministries, national publications and related country data reported by various international organizations.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 63 values

Land area (sq. km) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 652,230 (2024)
• Algeria — 2.38 million (2024)
• Bahrain — 800 (2024)
• Djibouti — 23,180 (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 995,450 (2024)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 1.62 million (2024)
• Iraq — 434,130 (2024)
• Israel — 21,640 (2024)
• Jordan — 88,794 (2024)
• Kuwait — 17,820 (2024)
• Lebanon — 10,230 (2024)
• Libya — 1.76 million (2024)
• Malta

More environment data for Africa Western and Central

• Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 22.05% (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 18.09% (2025)
• Rural population — 247.88 million (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 46.52% (2025)
• Urban population — 284.93 million (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 53.48% (2025)
• Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 434,416 (2024)
• Capture fisheries production (metric tons) — 4.05 million (2024)
• Total fisheries production (metric tons)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Africa Western and Central's land area (sq. km)?

9.05 million in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1961?

It is down 0.00892% from 9.05 million in 1961. The highest value was 9.05 million in 1961 and the lowest 9.05 million in 2020.

Is the latest change in land area (sq. km) unusual for Africa Western and Central?

In 2023, Africa Western and Central's land area (sq. km) did not change 0% on 2022 (from 9.05 million to 9.05 million). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was −0% and a typical year strayed about 0% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), uri: https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/RL, publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator AG.LND.TOTL.K2, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), uri: https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/RL, publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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