Canada vs Nigeria: Urban area over the long-term

Canada
9,053 km² per grid cell
in 2025
Nigeria
11,202 km² per grid cell
in 2025
Canada rank
15th
Nigeria rank
14th

Urban area over the long-term over time

  • Canada
  • Nigeria
02.5k5.0k7.5k10.0k100015122025

How they compare

Nigeria currently reports 11,202 km² per grid cell against 9,053 km² per grid cell in Canada, a difference of 2,149 km² per grid cell.

That makes Nigeria's figure about 1.2 times Canada's.

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

Canada ranks 15th and Nigeria ranks 14th of 202 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, Canada averaged higher in 19 and Nigeria in 21.

Head to head by decade

Decade Canada Nigeria Difference Ahead
1000s 0.0006 km² per grid cell 0.0071 km² per grid cell 0.0064 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1100s 0.0023 km² per grid cell 0.0227 km² per grid cell 0.0204 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1200s 0.0079 km² per grid cell 0.0726 km² per grid cell 0.0647 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1300s 0.0271 km² per grid cell 0.2451 km² per grid cell 0.2179 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1400s 0.0916 km² per grid cell 0.8169 km² per grid cell 0.7254 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1500s 0.3052 km² per grid cell 2.7 km² per grid cell 2.39 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1600s 0.9156 km² per grid cell 10.29 km² per grid cell 9.38 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1700s 2.75 km² per grid cell 39.7 km² per grid cell 36.96 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1710s 3.1 km² per grid cell 44.25 km² per grid cell 41.15 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1720s 4.2 km² per grid cell 47.94 km² per grid cell 43.74 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1730s 5.71 km² per grid cell 51.93 km² per grid cell 46.21 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1740s 7.8 km² per grid cell 56.24 km² per grid cell 48.44 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1750s 10.66 km² per grid cell 60.9 km² per grid cell 50.24 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1760s 14.62 km² per grid cell 65.94 km² per grid cell 51.32 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1770s 20.09 km² per grid cell 71.39 km² per grid cell 51.3 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1780s 27.65 km² per grid cell 77.28 km² per grid cell 49.63 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1790s 38.11 km² per grid cell 83.64 km² per grid cell 45.53 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1800s 52.53 km² per grid cell 90.52 km² per grid cell 37.99 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1810s 72.23 km² per grid cell 97.94 km² per grid cell 25.71 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1820s 99.52 km² per grid cell 105.96 km² per grid cell 6.45 km² per grid cell Nigeria
1830s 135.4 km² per grid cell 114.62 km² per grid cell 20.78 km² per grid cell Canada
1840s 180.25 km² per grid cell 123.97 km² per grid cell 56.28 km² per grid cell Canada
1850s 232.59 km² per grid cell 134.05 km² per grid cell 98.54 km² per grid cell Canada
1860s 339.51 km² per grid cell 152.54 km² per grid cell 186.97 km² per grid cell Canada
1870s 387.76 km² per grid cell 174.32 km² per grid cell 213.44 km² per grid cell Canada
1880s 442.36 km² per grid cell 201.24 km² per grid cell 241.13 km² per grid cell Canada
1890s 487.17 km² per grid cell 234.38 km² per grid cell 252.79 km² per grid cell Canada
1900s 531.7 km² per grid cell 269.15 km² per grid cell 262.55 km² per grid cell Canada
1910s 749.95 km² per grid cell 312.45 km² per grid cell 437.5 km² per grid cell Canada
1920s 926.64 km² per grid cell 341.09 km² per grid cell 585.55 km² per grid cell Canada
1930s 1,209 km² per grid cell 359.04 km² per grid cell 849.56 km² per grid cell Canada
1940s 1,452 km² per grid cell 359.04 km² per grid cell 1,093 km² per grid cell Canada
1950s 2,154 km² per grid cell 402.15 km² per grid cell 1,752 km² per grid cell Canada
1960s 3,088 km² per grid cell 674.33 km² per grid cell 2,413 km² per grid cell Canada
1970s 3,924 km² per grid cell 1,062 km² per grid cell 2,863 km² per grid cell Canada
1980s 4,586 km² per grid cell 1,796 km² per grid cell 2,790 km² per grid cell Canada
1990s 5,485 km² per grid cell 3,011 km² per grid cell 2,474 km² per grid cell Canada
2000s 6,472 km² per grid cell 4,835 km² per grid cell 1,637 km² per grid cell Canada
2010s 7,642 km² per grid cell 7,525 km² per grid cell 116.34 km² per grid cell Canada
2020s 8,714 km² per grid cell 10,243 km² per grid cell 1,529 km² per grid cell Nigeria

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher urban area over the long-term, Canada or Nigeria?
Nigeria, at 11,202 km² per grid cell against 9,053 km² per grid cell in Canada as of 2025.
What is the difference in urban area over the long-term between Canada and Nigeria?
2,149 km² per grid cell, with Nigeria ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Canada and Nigeria?
108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
How do Canada and Nigeria rank globally for urban area over the long-term?
Canada ranks 15th and Nigeria ranks 14th 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

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Canada vs Nigeria: Urban area over the long-term. Statizoid, drawing on HYDE (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 23 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/urban-area-long-term/canada/nigeria/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/urban-area-long-term/canada/nigeria/">Canada vs Nigeria: Urban area over the long-term</a> — Statizoid

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

Total built-up area of a country over time.