What is the difference in urban area over the long-term between Colombia and Puerto Rico?

28 km² per grid cell, with Puerto Rico ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Colombia and Puerto Rico?

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.

Colombia vs Puerto Rico: Urban area over the long-term

Colombia

2,817 km² per grid cell

in 2025

Puerto Rico

2,845 km² per grid cell

in 2025

Colombia rank

45th

Puerto Rico rank

43rd

Urban area over the long-term over time

Colombia
Puerto Rico

How they compare

Puerto Rico currently reports 2,845 km² per grid cell against 2,817 km² per grid cell in Colombia, a difference of 28 km² per grid cell.

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

Colombia ranks 45th and Puerto Rico ranks 43rd of 202 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, Colombia averaged higher in 8 and Puerto Rico in 32.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Colombia	Puerto Rico	Difference	Ahead
1000s	0 km² per grid cell	0 km² per grid cell	0 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1100s	0 km² per grid cell	0.0001 km² per grid cell	0.0001 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1200s	0 km² per grid cell	0.0005 km² per grid cell	0.0005 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1300s	0 km² per grid cell	0.0022 km² per grid cell	0.0022 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1400s	0 km² per grid cell	0.0097 km² per grid cell	0.0097 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1500s	0 km² per grid cell	0.0439 km² per grid cell	0.0439 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1600s	4.21 km² per grid cell	0.1973 km² per grid cell	4.01 km² per grid cell	Colombia
1700s	7.79 km² per grid cell	0.888 km² per grid cell	6.9 km² per grid cell	Colombia
1710s	8.35 km² per grid cell	1.3 km² per grid cell	7.05 km² per grid cell	Colombia
1720s	8.82 km² per grid cell	1.86 km² per grid cell	6.96 km² per grid cell	Colombia
1730s	9.2 km² per grid cell	2.66 km² per grid cell	6.55 km² per grid cell	Colombia
1740s	9.51 km² per grid cell	3.79 km² per grid cell	5.72 km² per grid cell	Colombia
1750s	9.76 km² per grid cell	5.41 km² per grid cell	4.35 km² per grid cell	Colombia
1760s	9.98 km² per grid cell	7.72 km² per grid cell	2.26 km² per grid cell	Colombia
1770s	10.18 km² per grid cell	11.01 km² per grid cell	0.8287 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1780s	10.4 km² per grid cell	15.72 km² per grid cell	5.31 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1790s	10.66 km² per grid cell	22.43 km² per grid cell	11.78 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1800s	11.9 km² per grid cell	32.01 km² per grid cell	20.11 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1810s	11.9 km² per grid cell	45.68 km² per grid cell	33.78 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1820s	11.9 km² per grid cell	65.16 km² per grid cell	53.26 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1830s	14.31 km² per grid cell	86.03 km² per grid cell	71.72 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1840s	18.12 km² per grid cell	109.92 km² per grid cell	91.8 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1850s	23.09 km² per grid cell	149.53 km² per grid cell	126.44 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1860s	26.41 km² per grid cell	194.46 km² per grid cell	168.06 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1870s	30 km² per grid cell	241.82 km² per grid cell	211.82 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1880s	38.22 km² per grid cell	281.23 km² per grid cell	243 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1890s	47.28 km² per grid cell	304.38 km² per grid cell	257.11 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1900s	59.3 km² per grid cell	315.37 km² per grid cell	256.07 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1910s	76.66 km² per grid cell	347.69 km² per grid cell	271.04 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1920s	102.9 km² per grid cell	374.25 km² per grid cell	271.35 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1930s	134.05 km² per grid cell	407.64 km² per grid cell	273.58 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1940s	159.12 km² per grid cell	460.17 km² per grid cell	301.05 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1950s	296.5 km² per grid cell	604.8 km² per grid cell	308.3 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1960s	529.14 km² per grid cell	834.05 km² per grid cell	304.91 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1970s	826.93 km² per grid cell	1,198 km² per grid cell	371.1 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1980s	1,188 km² per grid cell	1,572 km² per grid cell	383.9 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
1990s	1,575 km² per grid cell	2,207 km² per grid cell	632 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
2000s	1,940 km² per grid cell	2,689 km² per grid cell	748.86 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
2010s	2,347 km² per grid cell	2,814 km² per grid cell	466.49 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico
2020s	2,714 km² per grid cell	2,851 km² per grid cell	137.19 km² per grid cell	Puerto Rico

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher urban area over the long-term, Colombia or Puerto Rico?: Puerto Rico, at 2,845 km² per grid cell against 2,817 km² per grid cell in Colombia as of 2025.
What is the difference in urban area over the long-term between Colombia and Puerto Rico?: 28 km² per grid cell, with Puerto Rico ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Colombia and Puerto Rico?: 108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
How do Colombia and Puerto Rico rank globally for urban area over the long-term?: Colombia ranks 45th and Puerto Rico ranks 43rd 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.