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Data for 1978

Land Area, 1978

Figures for 1978, as FAO published them · stored as published, never rewritten

Land Area, 1978 covers 185 countries. China is highest, at 9,388,250; Vatican City is lowest, at 0. The middle country reads 100,250. Against 1977, 2 values changed (1 up, 1 down), the same countries are covered.

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Land Area · Data for 1978

HighestChina

9,388,250

LowestVatican City

0

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end. Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score.

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Land Area, 1978, as published. FAO ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Showing 25 of 185 countries · select a heading to sort

Land Area, 1978: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1ChinaCHNEastern Asia9,388,250
2United StatesUSANorthern America9,158,960
3CanadaCANNorthern America8,965,590
4BrazilBRASouth America8,358,140
5AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand7,682,300
6IndiaINDSouthern Asia2,973,190
7ArgentinaARGSouth America2,736,690
8AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa2,381,740
9DR CongoCODMiddle Africa2,267,050
10Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia2,149,690
11MexicoMEXCentral America1,943,950
12IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia1,811,570
13LibyaLBYNorthern Africa1,759,540
14IranIRNSouthern Asia1,628,760
15MongoliaMNGEastern Asia1,547,439
16PeruPERSouth America1,280,000
17NigerNERWestern Africa1,266,700
18ChadTCDMiddle Africa1,259,200
19AngolaAGOMiddle Africa1,246,700
20MaliMLIWestern Africa1,220,190
21South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa1,213,090
22ColombiaCOLSouth America1,109,500
23BoliviaBOLSouth America1,083,300
24MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa1,030,700
25EgyptEGYNorthern Africa995,450

02In 1978

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

  1. 1China9,388,250
  2. 2United States9,158,960
  3. 3Canada8,965,590
  4. 4Brazil8,358,140
  5. 5Australia7,682,300

Lowest

  1. 185Vatican City0
  2. 184Monaco2
  3. 183Gibraltar10
  4. 181Naurushared20
  5. 181Macaushared20

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 100,250. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031977 → 1978

Since 1977

What changed between 1977 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 2values changed, of 185 in both
  • 1 · 1rose · fell
  • 183unchanged

Rose most

Fell most

  • Spain499,540 → 499,530−10

Changes in value, not in places: a country’s place also moves when others do. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

The site’s method

  • 182 distinct values among 185

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 17 decimals. 2 countries share 350. Countries sharing a value share a position too.

  • The position is ours

    FAO publishes values only. The order here sorts the published values, and the page says so wherever it prints one.

  • Which end is better

    Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score.

  • Nothing missing

    Every one of the 185 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 4.0. Share, adapt and use commercially. Credit the publisher and say if you changed anything.

Cite this edition

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (1978). Land Area, 1978 [data set], describing 1978. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/land-area/1978

0664 held

Other years

07Questions

Land Area, 1978: questions and answers

Which country has the highest land area in Land Area, 1978?

China, at 9,388,250, of the 185 countries in the file.

What year does Land Area, 1978 describe?

1978.

How many countries does Land Area, 1978 cover?

185.

Where can I download Land Area, 1978?

On this page, as a CSV file holding every value exactly as published, or from the publisher’s own site, linked below.

Is Land Area, 1978 the newest?

No. The newest held here is Land Area, 2024.

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