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Data for 1959

Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 1959

1959, as UN DESA Population Division’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 1959 covers 222 countries on 3 measures. Vatican City is highest, at 100.000; 74 countries share the lowest reading, 0.000. The middle country reads 13.079. Against 1958, 147 values changed (142 up, 5 down), the same countries are covered.

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Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation) · Data for 1959

HighestVatican City

100.000

Lowest74 countries share it

0.000

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.

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 1959, 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

Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 1959: every country, as published by UN DESA Population Division.
Vatican CityVATSouthern Europe100.0000.0000.000
SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia91.5228.2490.229
Hong KongHKGEastern Asia90.9707.3741.656
MacauMACEastern Asia90.6098.7050.686
MaltaMLTSouthern Europe68.29322.9668.741
United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe55.79928.57815.622
KuwaitKWTWestern Asia52.93537.1359.930
JapanJPNEastern Asia51.42436.31912.257
TaiwanTWNEastern Asia49.56339.55110.886
UruguayURYSouth America49.07032.86518.065
JamaicaJAMCaribbean48.08920.46131.450
ArgentinaARGSouth America45.91530.23523.850
Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa45.66030.15424.186
BarbadosBRBCaribbean44.56243.08412.354
LebanonLBNWestern Asia43.51438.62117.864
South KoreaKOREastern Asia41.17535.48523.341
MauritiusMUSEastern Africa38.87343.91317.214
NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe38.86039.73421.406
Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean38.75544.22917.015
North KoreaPRKEastern Asia38.61944.81716.564
RussiaRUSEastern Europe36.67337.71225.616
GreeceGRCSouthern Europe36.44528.62434.931
IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia36.42938.69424.877
UkraineUKREastern Europe36.16033.48430.356
VenezuelaVENSouth America35.76037.96026.280

02In 1959

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.

Highest

  1. Vatican City100.000
  2. Singapore91.522
  3. Hong Kong90.970
  4. Macau90.609
  5. Malta68.293

Lowest

  1. Kosovoshared0.000
  2. Samoashared0.000
  3. Vanuatushared0.000
  4. United States Virgin Islandsshared0.000
  5. British Virgin Islandsshared0.000

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 13.079. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

  • Population in towns and semi-dense areas (%)

    Highest2 share it

    Lowest15 share it

    Middle country: 35.774

  • Population in rural areas (%)

    Highest14 share it

    Lowest3 share it

    Middle country: 45.948

031958 → 1959

Since 1958

What changed between 1958 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 147values changed, of 222 in both
  • 142 · 5rose · fell
  • 75unchanged

Rose most

Fell most

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. 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

  • One year of the 2025 release

    Every year in this series comes from UN DESA Population Division’s 2025 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1959.

  • 147 distinct values among 222

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 74 countries share 0.000. Countries sharing a value share a position too.

  • Which end is better

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

  • Nothing missing

    Every one of the 222 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 3.0 IGO. The version of CC BY written for intergovernmental organisations. Credit the publisher and say what you changed.

Cite this edition

UN DESA Population Division (1959). Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 1959 [data set], describing 1959. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/population-in-cities/1959

0676 held

Other years

07Questions

Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 1959: questions and answers

Which country has the highest population living in cities in Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 1959?

Vatican City, at 100.000, of the 222 countries in the file.

What year does Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 1959 describe?

1959.

How many countries does Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 1959 cover?

222.

Where can I download Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 1959?

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

Is Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 1959 the newest?

No. The newest held here is Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 2025.

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