What is the difference in urban area over the long-term between Bulgaria and Costa Rica?

92.79 km² per grid cell, with Costa Rica ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Bulgaria and Costa Rica?

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.

Bulgaria vs Costa Rica: Urban area over the long-term

Bulgaria

960.21 km² per grid cell

in 2025

Costa Rica

1,053 km² per grid cell

in 2025

Bulgaria rank

94th

Costa Rica rank

93rd

Urban area over the long-term over time

Bulgaria
Costa Rica

How they compare

Costa Rica currently reports 1,053 km² per grid cell against 960.21 km² per grid cell in Bulgaria, a difference of 92.79 km² per grid cell.

That makes Costa Rica's figure about 1.1 times Bulgaria's.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 108 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Costa Rica ahead.

Bulgaria ranks 94th and Costa Rica ranks 93rd of 202 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, Bulgaria averaged higher in 33 and Costa Rica in 7.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Bulgaria	Costa Rica	Difference	Ahead
1000s	0.0017 km² per grid cell	0.0035 km² per grid cell	0.0017 km² per grid cell	Costa Rica
1100s	0.0057 km² per grid cell	0.0113 km² per grid cell	0.0057 km² per grid cell	Costa Rica
1200s	0.0182 km² per grid cell	0.0371 km² per grid cell	0.0189 km² per grid cell	Costa Rica
1300s	0.0587 km² per grid cell	0.1213 km² per grid cell	0.0626 km² per grid cell	Costa Rica
1400s	0.0969 km² per grid cell	0.3971 km² per grid cell	0.3003 km² per grid cell	Costa Rica
1500s	0.4227 km² per grid cell	1.3 km² per grid cell	0.877 km² per grid cell	Costa Rica
1600s	1.98 km² per grid cell	0.0693 km² per grid cell	1.91 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1700s	5.94 km² per grid cell	0.5912 km² per grid cell	5.35 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1710s	6.15 km² per grid cell	0.7206 km² per grid cell	5.43 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1720s	6.44 km² per grid cell	0.854 km² per grid cell	5.58 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1730s	6.75 km² per grid cell	1.01 km² per grid cell	5.73 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1740s	7.07 km² per grid cell	1.2 km² per grid cell	5.87 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1750s	7.4 km² per grid cell	1.42 km² per grid cell	5.98 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1760s	7.76 km² per grid cell	1.68 km² per grid cell	6.07 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1770s	8.12 km² per grid cell	2 km² per grid cell	6.13 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1780s	8.51 km² per grid cell	2.36 km² per grid cell	6.15 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1790s	8.92 km² per grid cell	2.8 km² per grid cell	6.11 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1800s	9.34 km² per grid cell	3.32 km² per grid cell	6.02 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1810s	11.87 km² per grid cell	4.06 km² per grid cell	7.81 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1820s	15.55 km² per grid cell	4.97 km² per grid cell	10.58 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1830s	20.05 km² per grid cell	6.43 km² per grid cell	13.62 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1840s	26.38 km² per grid cell	8.43 km² per grid cell	17.96 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1850s	34.72 km² per grid cell	10.78 km² per grid cell	23.94 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1860s	44.15 km² per grid cell	13.49 km² per grid cell	30.66 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1870s	56.12 km² per grid cell	18.41 km² per grid cell	37.7 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1880s	81.62 km² per grid cell	24.8 km² per grid cell	56.82 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1890s	116.11 km² per grid cell	30.21 km² per grid cell	85.9 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1900s	134.49 km² per grid cell	36.09 km² per grid cell	98.4 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1910s	181.55 km² per grid cell	39.15 km² per grid cell	142.4 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1920s	216.64 km² per grid cell	41.27 km² per grid cell	175.37 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1930s	254.69 km² per grid cell	41.27 km² per grid cell	213.42 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1940s	302.15 km² per grid cell	49.15 km² per grid cell	252.99 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1950s	366.7 km² per grid cell	87.77 km² per grid cell	278.94 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1960s	521.23 km² per grid cell	132.09 km² per grid cell	389.14 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1970s	716.24 km² per grid cell	208.04 km² per grid cell	508.2 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1980s	860.44 km² per grid cell	317.71 km² per grid cell	542.73 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
1990s	898.04 km² per grid cell	498.08 km² per grid cell	399.96 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
2000s	903.24 km² per grid cell	712.16 km² per grid cell	191.08 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
2010s	933.12 km² per grid cell	881.12 km² per grid cell	52 km² per grid cell	Bulgaria
2020s	957.04 km² per grid cell	1,015 km² per grid cell	57.91 km² per grid cell	Costa Rica

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher urban area over the long-term, Bulgaria or Costa Rica?: Costa Rica, at 1,053 km² per grid cell against 960.21 km² per grid cell in Bulgaria as of 2025.
What is the difference in urban area over the long-term between Bulgaria and Costa Rica?: 92.79 km² per grid cell, with Costa Rica ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Bulgaria and Costa Rica?: 108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
How do Bulgaria and Costa Rica rank globally for urban area over the long-term?: Bulgaria ranks 94th and Costa Rica ranks 93rd 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.