Human Settlements Basic Statistics 1997


TECHNICAL NOTES

General

The data in the tables are presented in alphabetical order by name of country or area in English. Because of space limitations, the country and area names listed in the tables are generally the commonly employed short titles in use in the United Nations.

Most data are disaggregated into urban and rural. However, it should be pointed out that rural and urban definitions vary considerably from country to country. Therefore, great care should be taken when statistical comparisons are carried out using the definition "urban and rural".

TABLE 1

Total population [thousands]

Estimates and projections (medium variant) of the total population for each country, region and major area. Annual growth rate of total population [%] The average annual growth rate of the total population for each country, region and major area. Population Below 15 [%] The percentage of population below 15 years for each country, region and major area. Population above 65 [%] The percentage of population aged 65 and over for each country, region and major area. Life expectancy at birth [years] Average life expectancy for both sexes. TABLE 2

Urban population [thousands]

Estimates and projections of the urban population for each country, region and major area. "Urban" is defined in the national context (the definitions of urban are generally the national definitions incorporated in the latest available census). Annual growth rate of urban population [%] The average annual growth rate of the urban population for each country, region and major area. Level of urbanization [%] Estimates and projections of the percentage of population residing in urban areas for each country, region and major area.
 
 TABLE 3

Rural population [thousands]

Estimates and projections of the rural population for each country, region and major area. Annual growth rate of rural population [%] The average annual growth rate of the rural population for each country, region and major area. Total area [1000ha] Total area of the country, including area under inland water bodies. Inland water bodies generally include major rivers and lakes. Density [population per 1000 ha] The ratio of population to total area. TABLE 4

Economically active population [thousands]

The economically active population comprises all persons of either sex who furnish the supply of labour for the production of goods and services during a specified time-reference period. Economically active female population [%] The percentage of economically active female population Economically active population in agriculture [%] The percentage of economically active population in the agriculture sector. Economically active population in industry [%] The percentage of economically active population in the industry sector. Economically active population in services [%] The percentage of economically active population in the service sector. GNP per capita [US$] Gross National Product per capita in US$.

These figures are calculated according to the World Bank Atlas method, which is described below.

The Atlas conversion factor for any year is the average of a country's exchange rate for that year and its exchange rates for the two preceding years, after adjusting them for differences in relative inflation between the country and the United States of America. This three-year average smooths fluctuations in prices and exchange rates for each country. The resulting GNP in US$ is divided by the midyear population for the latest of three years to derive GNP per capita.

 
TABLE 5

Number of households [thousands]

The concept of "household" is based on the arrangements made by persons individually or in groups, for providing themselves with food or other essentials for living. A household may be either (a) a one-person household, that is, a person who makes provision for his or her own food or other essentials for living without combining with any other person to form part of a multiperson household or (b) a multiperson household, that is, a group of two or more persons living together who make common provision for food or other essentials for living. The person in the group may pool their incomes and have a common budget to a greater or lesser extent; they may be related or unrelated persons or a combination of both. Average household size Average household size refers to the average number of person per household. This rate is obtained by dividing the total population by number of households. TABLE 6

Number of conventional dwellings [thousands]

Conventional dwelling refers to a room or a suite of rooms and its accessories in a permanent building or structurally separated part thereof, which by the way it has been built, rebuilt or converted, is intended for habitation by one household and is not, at the time of the census or other inquiry, used wholly for other purposes. A conventional dwelling may be either occupied or vacant. Persons per room The average number of persons per room is obtained by dividing the total number of persons in housing units by the total number of rooms of the housing units.

A room is defined as a space in a housing unit enclosed by walls reaching from the floor to the ceiling or roof covering of at least to a height of two meters, of a size large enough to hold a bed for an adult, i.e. 4m2. Total number of rooms, therefore, includes bedrooms, dining-rooms, living-rooms, studies, servants' rooms, kitchens, rooms used for professional or business purposes and other separate spaces used or intended for dwelling purposes as long as they meet the criteria of walls and floor space.

Rooms per housing unit The average number of rooms per housing unit is obtained by dividing the total number of rooms in all housing units by the total number of housing units. Owner occupied households [%] Percentage of households occupying the housing unit as owner. An owner occupant is one who owns the housing unit he occupies, including those who pay loan on a housing unit, or whose house is under mortgage. TABLE 7

Housing units with piped water [%]

Percentage of occupied housing units with piped water. Piped water refers to water provided within a housing unit by pipe from community-wide systems or from individual installations such as pressure tanks and pumps. "With piped water" means water supply inside the housing unit or outside the housing unit but within 100 meters from the door. Housing units with toilet [%] Percentage of occupied housing units with toilet of any type. Toilet of any type refers to an installation arranged for humans to discharge their excreta. Housing units with electric lighting [%] Percentage of occupied housing units with electric lighting. Housing units with kitchen [%] Percentage of occupied housing units with kitchen or other space reserved for cooking. Kitchen is a room equipped for the preparation of principal meals and intended primarily for that purpose. Other space reserved for cooking falls short of the attributes of "room", even if equipped for the preparation of the principal meals and intended primarily for that purpose. TABLE 8

Population with access to safe water [%]

Percentage of population with access to an adequate amount of safe drinking water located within a convenient distance from the user's dwelling. It is important to note that "access, adequate amount, safe, convenient distance" vary from country to country. Population with access to sanitation [%] Percentage of population with access to sanitary facility for human excreta disposal in the dwelling or located within a convenient distance from the user's dwelling. It is important to note that "access, sanitary facility, convenient distance" vary from country to country. Road network density [km/1000km2] The ratio of the total length of the road network to total area. Railway network density [km/1000km2] The ratio of the total length of the railway network to total area. Telephones per 100 inhabitants [%] The number of main lines per 100 inhabitants. Main telephone lines refer to the telephone lines which have a dedicated port on a telephone exchange. Motor Vehicles per 100 inhabitants [%] The number of passenger cars per 100 inhabitants. Passenger cars includes vehicles seating not more than nine persons (including driver), such as taxis, jeeps and station wagons. Special purpose vehicles such as two- or three-wheeled cycles and motorcycles, trams, trolley-buses, ambulances, hearses. Military vehicles operated by police or other governmental security organizations are excluded. Commercial energy consumption per capita [gigajoules] Commercial energy consumption includes solid, liquid, gaseous fuels and primary electricity. Consumption refers to "apparent consumption" and are derived from the formula "production + imports - exports - bunkers +/- stock changes". Total energy requirement per capita [gigajoules] Total energy requirement is defined as consumption of commercial energy plus traditional fuels which include fuelwood, charcoal, bagasse, as well as animal, vegetal and other wastes. TABLE 9

Housing Expenditure [%]

The percentage of final consumption expenditure of resident households taken up for gross rent, fuel and power. Population below poverty line [%] The percentage of population whose income is not enough to afford a minimum nutritionally adequate diet plus essential non-food requirements. Gini index [%] The Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income (or, in some cases, consumption expenditures) among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentage of total income received against the cumulative percentage of recipients, starting with the poorest individual or households. The Gini index measures the ratio between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of zero presents perfect equality while an index of 100 per cent implies maximum inequality. Population with access to health services [%] Percentage of the population that can reach appropriate local health services by local means of transport in no more than one hour. Population per doctor The number of people per doctor. Doctor refers to physicians and includes all graduates of any faculty or school of medicine in any medical field (including practice, teaching, administration and research). Primary and secondary school enrolment [%] Total enrolment in primary and secondary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of population in age-group corresponding to the national regulations for these two levels of education. Illiteracy [%] The percentage of adult (15 years and over) illiterate. Illiterate are those who cannot, with understanding, both read and write a short simple statement on their everyday life. TABLE 10

Population of urban agglomerations [thousands]

Estimates and projections of the population of urban agglomerations with 750,000 or more population in 1995. Annual growth rate of urban agglomerations [%] The average annual growth rate of the population of urban agglomerations with 750,000 or more population in 1995. Percentage of urban population [%]

 
Source of Data
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