Finland vs Norway: Urban area over the long-term

Finland
2,128 km² per grid cell
in 2025
Norway
1,987 km² per grid cell
in 2025
Finland rank
62nd
Norway rank
65th

Urban area over the long-term over time

  • Finland
  • Norway
05001.0k1.5k2.0k100015122025

How they compare

Finland currently reports 2,128 km² per grid cell against 1,987 km² per grid cell in Norway, a difference of 141 km² per grid cell.

That makes Finland's figure about 1.1 times Norway's.

The two have swapped places 5 times across 108 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Norway ahead.

Finland ranks 62nd and Norway ranks 65th of 202 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, Finland averaged higher in 3 and Norway in 37.

Head to head by decade

Decade Finland Norway Difference Ahead
1000s 0.0984 km² per grid cell 0.2665 km² per grid cell 0.1681 km² per grid cell Norway
1100s 0.1715 km² per grid cell 0.5396 km² per grid cell 0.3681 km² per grid cell Norway
1200s 0.2932 km² per grid cell 1.02 km² per grid cell 0.7261 km² per grid cell Norway
1300s 0.4937 km² per grid cell 1.8 km² per grid cell 1.31 km² per grid cell Norway
1400s 0.6732 km² per grid cell 1.35 km² per grid cell 0.6759 km² per grid cell Norway
1500s 1.01 km² per grid cell 4.05 km² per grid cell 3.04 km² per grid cell Norway
1600s 3.1 km² per grid cell 7.84 km² per grid cell 4.74 km² per grid cell Norway
1700s 13.05 km² per grid cell 22.2 km² per grid cell 9.16 km² per grid cell Norway
1710s 17.02 km² per grid cell 31.8 km² per grid cell 14.79 km² per grid cell Norway
1720s 21.01 km² per grid cell 40.59 km² per grid cell 19.58 km² per grid cell Norway
1730s 25 km² per grid cell 48.4 km² per grid cell 23.4 km² per grid cell Norway
1740s 28.99 km² per grid cell 55.15 km² per grid cell 26.16 km² per grid cell Norway
1750s 33.02 km² per grid cell 60.91 km² per grid cell 27.89 km² per grid cell Norway
1760s 37.16 km² per grid cell 65.8 km² per grid cell 28.64 km² per grid cell Norway
1770s 41.52 km² per grid cell 70.04 km² per grid cell 28.52 km² per grid cell Norway
1780s 46.21 km² per grid cell 73.86 km² per grid cell 27.65 km² per grid cell Norway
1790s 51.41 km² per grid cell 77.52 km² per grid cell 26.11 km² per grid cell Norway
1800s 57.28 km² per grid cell 81.27 km² per grid cell 23.99 km² per grid cell Norway
1810s 64.07 km² per grid cell 85.37 km² per grid cell 21.3 km² per grid cell Norway
1820s 72.03 km² per grid cell 95.15 km² per grid cell 23.12 km² per grid cell Norway
1830s 86.98 km² per grid cell 110.75 km² per grid cell 23.77 km² per grid cell Norway
1840s 96.4 km² per grid cell 128.73 km² per grid cell 32.33 km² per grid cell Norway
1850s 114.69 km² per grid cell 152.47 km² per grid cell 37.78 km² per grid cell Norway
1860s 127.83 km² per grid cell 181.54 km² per grid cell 53.71 km² per grid cell Norway
1870s 144.85 km² per grid cell 210.82 km² per grid cell 65.97 km² per grid cell Norway
1880s 166.38 km² per grid cell 237.56 km² per grid cell 71.18 km² per grid cell Norway
1890s 202.34 km² per grid cell 268.2 km² per grid cell 65.87 km² per grid cell Norway
1900s 243.38 km² per grid cell 317.07 km² per grid cell 73.69 km² per grid cell Norway
1910s 294.67 km² per grid cell 357.56 km² per grid cell 62.88 km² per grid cell Norway
1920s 339.42 km² per grid cell 418.43 km² per grid cell 79.01 km² per grid cell Norway
1930s 387.41 km² per grid cell 469.44 km² per grid cell 82.03 km² per grid cell Norway
1940s 414.72 km² per grid cell 530.4 km² per grid cell 115.68 km² per grid cell Norway
1950s 545.5 km² per grid cell 637.02 km² per grid cell 91.52 km² per grid cell Norway
1960s 747.67 km² per grid cell 799.29 km² per grid cell 51.62 km² per grid cell Norway
1970s 1,020 km² per grid cell 1,045 km² per grid cell 24.68 km² per grid cell Norway
1980s 1,154 km² per grid cell 1,162 km² per grid cell 7.71 km² per grid cell Norway
1990s 1,249 km² per grid cell 1,281 km² per grid cell 31.57 km² per grid cell Norway
2000s 1,538 km² per grid cell 1,466 km² per grid cell 71.67 km² per grid cell Finland
2010s 1,952 km² per grid cell 1,707 km² per grid cell 245.21 km² per grid cell Finland
2020s 2,088 km² per grid cell 1,920 km² per grid cell 167.71 km² per grid cell Finland

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher urban area over the long-term, Finland or Norway?
Finland, at 2,128 km² per grid cell against 1,987 km² per grid cell in Norway as of 2025.
What is the difference in urban area over the long-term between Finland and Norway?
141 km² per grid cell, with Finland ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Finland and Norway?
108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
How do Finland and Norway rank globally for urban area over the long-term?
Finland ranks 62nd and Norway ranks 65th 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

Finland vs Norway: 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/finland/norway/

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/finland/norway/">Finland vs Norway: 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.