Harmonised global definition of cities and settlements

The Degree of Urbanisation, a new global definition of cities,
urban and rural areas

In its 51st session, the United Nations Statistical Commission endorsed the methodology for delineation of cities and urban and rural areas for international and regional statistical comparison purposes. The method was proposed by a consortium of international organisations (EU, OECD, World Bank, FAO, UN-Habitat, ILO) led by the EU.

This page presents key resources needed for information, visualisation and implementation of the
Degree of Urbanisation.

Why a Global Definition?

The rationale behind the approach

Definitions

The classes of the Degree of Urbanisation

Country Fact Sheets

Degree of Urbanisation by country

Interactive Map

Global visualisation

Urban Centres DataBase

(GHS-UCDB R2019A)

Data

Download and information