What is the difference in urban area over the long-term between Papua New Guinea and Reunion?

48.55 km² per grid cell, with Reunion ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Papua New Guinea and Reunion?

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.

Papua New Guinea vs Reunion: Urban area over the long-term

Papua New Guinea

168.91 km² per grid cell

in 2025

Reunion

217.46 km² per grid cell

in 2025

Papua New Guinea rank

156th

Reunion rank

153rd

Urban area over the long-term over time

Papua New Guinea
Reunion

How they compare

Reunion currently reports 217.46 km² per grid cell against 168.91 km² per grid cell in Papua New Guinea, a difference of 48.55 km² per grid cell.

That makes Reunion's figure about 1.3 times Papua New Guinea's.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 108 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Papua New Guinea ahead.

Papua New Guinea ranks 156th and Reunion ranks 153rd of 202 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, Papua New Guinea averaged higher in 13 and Reunion in 27.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Papua New Guinea	Reunion	Difference	Ahead
1000s	0.0001 km² per grid cell	0 km² per grid cell	0.0001 km² per grid cell	Papua New Guinea
1100s	0.0004 km² per grid cell	0 km² per grid cell	0.0004 km² per grid cell	Papua New Guinea
1200s	0.0012 km² per grid cell	0 km² per grid cell	0.0012 km² per grid cell	Papua New Guinea
1300s	0.0038 km² per grid cell	0 km² per grid cell	0.0038 km² per grid cell	Papua New Guinea
1400s	0.012 km² per grid cell	0 km² per grid cell	0.012 km² per grid cell	Papua New Guinea
1500s	0.0378 km² per grid cell	0.0006 km² per grid cell	0.0372 km² per grid cell	Papua New Guinea
1600s	0.1185 km² per grid cell	0.0022 km² per grid cell	0.1163 km² per grid cell	Papua New Guinea
1700s	0.3626 km² per grid cell	0.0084 km² per grid cell	0.3542 km² per grid cell	Papua New Guinea
1710s	0.1632 km² per grid cell	0.0159 km² per grid cell	0.1472 km² per grid cell	Papua New Guinea
1720s	0.1894 km² per grid cell	0.0295 km² per grid cell	0.1599 km² per grid cell	Papua New Guinea
1730s	0.2195 km² per grid cell	0.0545 km² per grid cell	0.165 km² per grid cell	Papua New Guinea
1740s	0.254 km² per grid cell	0.1009 km² per grid cell	0.1531 km² per grid cell	Papua New Guinea
1750s	0.2933 km² per grid cell	0.1867 km² per grid cell	0.1066 km² per grid cell	Papua New Guinea
1760s	0.338 km² per grid cell	0.3456 km² per grid cell	0.0076 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1770s	0.3885 km² per grid cell	0.6395 km² per grid cell	0.251 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1780s	0.4455 km² per grid cell	1.18 km² per grid cell	0.7379 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1790s	0.5095 km² per grid cell	1.66 km² per grid cell	1.15 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1800s	0.5811 km² per grid cell	2.22 km² per grid cell	1.64 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1810s	0.6609 km² per grid cell	2.85 km² per grid cell	2.19 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1820s	0.7496 km² per grid cell	3.56 km² per grid cell	2.81 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1830s	0.8478 km² per grid cell	4.28 km² per grid cell	3.43 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1840s	0.9563 km² per grid cell	5.47 km² per grid cell	4.51 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1850s	1.08 km² per grid cell	6.28 km² per grid cell	5.21 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1860s	1.21 km² per grid cell	10.3 km² per grid cell	9.09 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1870s	1.35 km² per grid cell	12.41 km² per grid cell	11.06 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1880s	1.51 km² per grid cell	12.97 km² per grid cell	11.46 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1890s	1.69 km² per grid cell	12.97 km² per grid cell	11.29 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1900s	1.88 km² per grid cell	12.97 km² per grid cell	11.09 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1910s	2.09 km² per grid cell	12.97 km² per grid cell	10.88 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1920s	2.47 km² per grid cell	12.97 km² per grid cell	10.5 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1930s	2.92 km² per grid cell	12.97 km² per grid cell	10.05 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1940s	3.45 km² per grid cell	12.97 km² per grid cell	9.52 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1950s	6.27 km² per grid cell	15.07 km² per grid cell	8.8 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1960s	16.23 km² per grid cell	27.26 km² per grid cell	11.04 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1970s	39.56 km² per grid cell	42.04 km² per grid cell	2.47 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1980s	56.94 km² per grid cell	73.68 km² per grid cell	16.74 km² per grid cell	Reunion
1990s	73.16 km² per grid cell	119.39 km² per grid cell	46.23 km² per grid cell	Reunion
2000s	86.03 km² per grid cell	159.4 km² per grid cell	73.37 km² per grid cell	Reunion
2010s	114.81 km² per grid cell	191.22 km² per grid cell	76.41 km² per grid cell	Reunion
2020s	154 km² per grid cell	211.6 km² per grid cell	57.61 km² per grid cell	Reunion

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher urban area over the long-term, Papua New Guinea or Reunion?: Reunion, at 217.46 km² per grid cell against 168.91 km² per grid cell in Papua New Guinea as of 2025.
What is the difference in urban area over the long-term between Papua New Guinea and Reunion?: 48.55 km² per grid cell, with Reunion ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Papua New Guinea and Reunion?: 108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
How do Papua New Guinea and Reunion rank globally for urban area over the long-term?: Papua New Guinea ranks 156th and Reunion ranks 153rd 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.