Which has higher urban area over the long-term, American Samoa or United States Virgin Islands?

United States Virgin Islands, at 41.74 km² per grid cell against 39.47 km² per grid cell in American Samoa as of 2025.

What is the difference in urban area over the long-term between American Samoa and United States Virgin Islands?

2.27 km² per grid cell, with United States Virgin Islands ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for American Samoa and United States Virgin Islands?

108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.

Where does this data come from?

HYDE (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Urban area over the long-term. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

American Samoa vs United States Virgin Islands: Urban area over the long-term

American Samoa

39.47 km² per grid cell

in 2025

United States Virgin Islands

41.74 km² per grid cell

in 2025

American Samoa rank

179th

United States Virgin Islands rank

178th

Urban area over the long-term over time

American Samoa
United States Virgin Islands

How they compare

United States Virgin Islands currently reports 41.74 km² per grid cell against 39.47 km² per grid cell in American Samoa, a difference of 2.27 km² per grid cell.

That makes United States Virgin Islands's figure about 1.1 times American Samoa's.

The two have swapped places 4 times across 108 shared years of data; in 1000 it was United States Virgin Islands ahead.

American Samoa ranks 179th and United States Virgin Islands ranks 178th of 202 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, American Samoa averaged higher in 3 and United States Virgin Islands in 37.

Head to head by decade

Decade	American Samoa	United States Virgin Islands	Difference	Ahead
1000s	0 km² per grid cell	0 km² per grid cell	0 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1100s	0 km² per grid cell	0 km² per grid cell	0 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1200s	0 km² per grid cell	0.0001 km² per grid cell	0.0001 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1300s	0 km² per grid cell	0.0005 km² per grid cell	0.0005 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1400s	0.0001 km² per grid cell	0.0032 km² per grid cell	0.0031 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1500s	0.0004 km² per grid cell	0.0194 km² per grid cell	0.019 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1600s	0.0019 km² per grid cell	0.1124 km² per grid cell	0.1105 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1700s	0.0088 km² per grid cell	0.4725 km² per grid cell	0.4638 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1710s	0.0115 km² per grid cell	0.5605 km² per grid cell	0.549 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1720s	0.0152 km² per grid cell	0.6442 km² per grid cell	0.629 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1730s	0.02 km² per grid cell	0.7387 km² per grid cell	0.7188 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1740s	0.0263 km² per grid cell	0.8464 km² per grid cell	0.8201 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1750s	0.0346 km² per grid cell	0.9703 km² per grid cell	0.9358 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1760s	0.0455 km² per grid cell	1.11 km² per grid cell	1.07 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1770s	0.0598 km² per grid cell	1.28 km² per grid cell	1.22 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1780s	0.0787 km² per grid cell	1.49 km² per grid cell	1.41 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1790s	0.1036 km² per grid cell	1.73 km² per grid cell	1.62 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1800s	0.1363 km² per grid cell	2.02 km² per grid cell	1.89 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1810s	0.1793 km² per grid cell	2.38 km² per grid cell	2.2 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1820s	0.2365 km² per grid cell	2.52 km² per grid cell	2.28 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1830s	0.3116 km² per grid cell	2.68 km² per grid cell	2.37 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1840s	0.4093 km² per grid cell	2.88 km² per grid cell	2.47 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1850s	0.5339 km² per grid cell	3.12 km² per grid cell	2.59 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1860s	0.6859 km² per grid cell	3.41 km² per grid cell	2.72 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1870s	0.9132 km² per grid cell	3.56 km² per grid cell	2.65 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1880s	1.17 km² per grid cell	3.72 km² per grid cell	2.56 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1890s	1.42 km² per grid cell	3.9 km² per grid cell	2.48 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1900s	1.66 km² per grid cell	4.09 km² per grid cell	2.43 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1910s	1.9 km² per grid cell	4.3 km² per grid cell	2.4 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1920s	2.36 km² per grid cell	4.52 km² per grid cell	2.16 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1930s	3.04 km² per grid cell	4.76 km² per grid cell	1.72 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1940s	4.13 km² per grid cell	5.02 km² per grid cell	0.892 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1950s	7.81 km² per grid cell	5.6 km² per grid cell	2.21 km² per grid cell	American Samoa
1960s	10.1 km² per grid cell	10.19 km² per grid cell	0.089 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1970s	13.94 km² per grid cell	21.69 km² per grid cell	7.75 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1980s	20.21 km² per grid cell	30.81 km² per grid cell	10.6 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
1990s	30.89 km² per grid cell	34.54 km² per grid cell	3.65 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands
2000s	38.29 km² per grid cell	37.51 km² per grid cell	0.7793 km² per grid cell	American Samoa
2010s	39.66 km² per grid cell	38.38 km² per grid cell	1.28 km² per grid cell	American Samoa
2020s	41.54 km² per grid cell	42.27 km² per grid cell	0.7244 km² per grid cell	United States Virgin Islands

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher urban area over the long-term, American Samoa or United States Virgin Islands?: United States Virgin Islands, at 41.74 km² per grid cell against 39.47 km² per grid cell in American Samoa as of 2025.
What is the difference in urban area over the long-term between American Samoa and United States Virgin Islands?: 2.27 km² per grid cell, with United States Virgin Islands ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for American Samoa and United States Virgin Islands?: 108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
How do American Samoa and United States Virgin Islands rank globally for urban area over the long-term?: American Samoa ranks 179th and United States Virgin Islands ranks 178th of 202 countries.
Where does this data come from?: HYDE (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Urban area over the long-term. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator: Urban area over the long-term
Unit: km² per grid cell
Source: HYDE (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 202 places, 21,816 data points, 1000–2025
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Total built-up area of a country over time.