2007 marked the first year where more of the world's population lived in an urban setting than a rural setting. In 1960, roughly a third of the world lived in an urban setting; it is expected that this figure will reach two thirds by 2050. Urbanization is a fairly new phenomenon; for the vast majority of human history, fewer than five percent of the world lived in urban areas, due to the dependency on subsistence agriculture. Advancements in agricultural practices and technology then coincided with the beginning of the industrial revolution in Europe in the late 19th century, which resulted in waves of urbanization to meet the demands of emerging manufacturing industries. This trend was replicated across the rest of the world as it industrialized over the following two centuries, and the most significant increase coincided with the industrialization of the most populous countries in Asia. In more developed economies, urbanization remains high even as economies de-industrialize, due to a variety of factors such as housing availability, labor demands in service industries, and social trends.

The global urban population overtook the rural population in numbers in 2007. Today, 4.5 billion people live in urban areas, compared to 3.4 million in rural areas. This development underlines that rapid urbanization the world has seen in recent decades.

In 2023, there were approximately 55.94 million people living in rural areas in the United States, while about 278.98 million people were living in urban areas. Within the provided time period, the number of people living in urban U.S. areas has increased significantly since totaling only 126.46 million in 1960.

Shapefile of Urban data from Census, https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/GENZ2020/shp/cb_2020_us_ua20_corrected_500k.zip Weblink: https://www.census.gov/geographies/mapping-files/time-series/geo/carto-boundary-file.html

Rural Urban ClassificationThe 2021 RUC is a statistical classification to provide a consistent and standardised method for classifying geographies as rural or urban. This is based on address density, physical settlement form, population size, and Relative Access to Major towns and cities (populations of over 75,000 people). The classification is produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) with advice from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Welsh Government and colleagues from the Government Geography Profession (GGP).This is the 2021 rural-urban classification (RUC) of the 2021 Local Authority Districts in England and Wales. This means that the 2021 RUC methodology has been applied to the 2021 LAD boundaries. LAD classifications are divided into four categories based on their populations:<!--1. Majority Rural: had at least 50% of their population residing in Rural OAs.<!--2. Intermediate Rural: 35-50% rural population<!--3. Intermediate Urban: 20-35% rural population<!--4. Urban: 20% or less of the population live in rural OAs.Each 2021 LAD category is split into one of two Relative Access categories, using the same data as the 2021 Output Area RUC. If more than 50% of a LAD population lives in ‘nearer to a major town or city’ OAs, it is deemed ‘nearer a major town or city’; otherwise, it is classified as ‘further from a major town or city.

Where data is unavailable for Super Output Area geographies, it may be appropriate for users to undertake analysis at the LAD level. At this level, the categorisation works slightly differently in that most areas will include a mix of both rural and urban areas - so the LAD RUC categorisation is a reflection of this. A statistical geography may contain substantial portions of open countryside but still be given an ‘Urban’ classification if the majority of the population within the area live in settlements that are urban in nature. Users should take this into consideration to ensure correct interpretations of any analysis of RUC LAD categories

This map's colors indicate which population is larger in each area: urban (green) or rural (yellow). The map's layers contain total population counts by sex, age, and race groups for Nation, State Legislative Districts Upper, State Legislative Districts Lower, Congressional District in the United States and Puerto Rico.The U.S. Census designates each census block as part of an urban area or as rural. Larger geographies in this map such as block group, tract, county and state can therefore have a mix of urban and rural population. This map illustrates the 100% urban areas in dark green, and 100% rural areas in dark yellow. Areas with mixed urban/rural population have softer shades of green or yellow, to give a visual indication of where change may be happening. From the Census:"The Census Bureau’s urban-rural classification is a delineation of geographic areas, identifying both individual urban areas and the rural area of the nation. The Census Bureau’s urban areas represent densely developed territory, and encompass residential, commercial, and other non-residential urban land uses. The Census Bureau delineates urban areas after each decennial census by applying specified criteria to decennial census and other data. Rural encompasses all population, housing, and territory not included within an urban area.For the 2020 Census, an urban area will comprise a densely settled core of census blocks that meet minimum housing unit density and/or population density requirements. This includes adjacent territory containing non-residential urban land uses. To qualify as an urban area, the territory identified according to criteria must encompass at least 2,000 housing units or have a population of at least 5,000." SourceAbout the dataYou can use this map as is and you can also modify it to use other attributes included in its layers. This map's layers contain total population counts by sex, age, and race groups data from the 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics. This is shown by Nation, State, County, Census Tract, Block Group boundaries. Each geography layer contains a common set of Census counts based on available attributes from the U.S. Census Bureau. There are also additional calculated attributes related to this topic, which can be mapped or used within analysis.Vintage of boundaries and attributes: 2020 Demographic and Housing Characteristics Table(s): P1, H1, H3, P2, P3, P5, P12, P13, P17, PCT12 (Not all lines of these DHC tables are available in this feature layer.)Data downloaded from: U.S. Census Bureau’s data.census.gov siteDate the Data was Downloaded: May 25, 2023Geography Levels included: Nation, State, County, Census Tract, Block GroupNational Figures: included in Nation layer The United States Census Bureau Demographic and Housing Characteristics: 2020 Census Results 2020 Census Data Quality Geography & 2020 Census Technical Documentation Data Table Guide: includes the final list of tables, lowest level of geography by table and table shells for the Demographic Profile and Demographic and Housing Characteristics.News & Updates This map is ready to be used in ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online and its configurable apps, Story Maps, dashboards, Notebooks, Python, custom apps, and mobile apps. Data can also be exported for offline workflows. Please cite the U.S. Census Bureau when using this data. Data Processing Notes: These 2020 Census boundaries come from the US Census TIGER geodatabases. These are Census boundaries with water and/or coastlines erased for cartographic and mapping purposes. For Census tracts and block groups, the water cutouts are derived from a subset of the 2020 Areal Hydrography boundaries offered by TIGER. Water bodies and rivers which are 50 million square meters or larger (mid to large sized water bodies) are erased from the tract and block group boundaries, as well as additional important features. For state and county boundaries, the water and coastlines are derived from the coastlines of the 2020 500k TIGER Cartographic Boundary Shapefiles. These are erased to more accurately portray the coastlines and Great Lakes. The original AWATER and ALAND fields are unchanged and available as attributes within the data table (units are square meters).  The layer contains all US states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. Census tracts with no population that occur in areas of water, such as oceans, are removed from this data service (Census Tracts beginning with 99). Block groups that fall within the same criteria (Block Group denoted as 0 with no area land) have also been removed.Percentages and derived counts, are calculated values (that can be identified by the "_calc_" stub in the field name). Field alias names were created based on the Table Shells file available from the Data Table Guide for the Demographic Profile and Demographic and Housing Characteristics. Not all lines of all tables listed above are included in this layer. Duplicative counts were dropped. For example, P0030001 was dropped, as it is duplicative of P0010001.To protect the privacy and confidentiality of respondents, their data has been protected using differential privacy techniques by the U.S. Census Bureau.

This table uses U.S. Census data to create a dataset that identifies all Virginia localities as either Mostly Urban, Mostly Rural or Completely Rural. Total population and breakdown between urban and rural populations are included.

For information on the U.S. Census Bureau's use of these designations see https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geo-areas/urban-rural.html. (Source data for this dataset is found at this link and is titled "County Classification Lookup Table [XLS]".)

The Scottish Government (SG) Urban Rural Classification provides a consistent way of defining urban and rural areas across Scotland. The classification aids policy development and the understanding of issues facing urban, rural and remote communities. It is based upon two main criteria:

(i) population as defined by National Records of Scotland (NRS), and (ii) accessibility based on drive time analysis to differentiate between accessible and remote areas in Scotland.

The classification can be analysed in a two, three, six or eight fold form. The two-fold classification simply distinguishes between urban and rural areas through two categories, urban and rural, while the three-fold classification splits the rural category between accessible and remote. Most commonly used is the 6-fold classification which distinguishes between urban, rural, and remote areas through six categories. The 8-fold classification further distinguishes between remote and very remote regions. The Classification is normally updated on a biennial basis, with the current dataset reflective of Census Day 2022. Data for previous versions are available for download in ESRI Shapefile format.

Summary File 1 (SF1) Urban/Rural Update contains summary statistics on population and housing subjects derived from the responses to the 2010 Census questionnaire. Population items include sex, age, race, Hispanic or Latino origin, household relationship, household type, household size, family type, family size, and group quarters. Housing items include occupancy status, vacancy status, and tenure (whether a housing unit is owner-occupied or renter-occupied). The summary statistics are presented in 333 tables, which are tabulated for multiple levels of observation (called "summary levels" in the Census Bureau's nomenclature), including, but not limited to, regions, divisions, states, metropolitan/micropolitan statistical areas, counties, county subdivisions, places, congressional districts, American Indian Areas, Alaska Native Areas, Hawaiian Home Lands, ZIP Code tabulation areas, census tracts, block groups, and blocks. There are 177 population tables and 58 housing tables shown down to the block level; 84 population tables and 4 housing tables shown down to the census tract level; and 10 population tables shown down to the county level. Some of the summary areas are iterated for "geographic components" or portions of geographic areas, e.g., the principal city of a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) or the urban and rural portions of a MSA. With one variable per table cell and additional variables with geographic information, the collection comprises 2,597 data files, 49 per state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the National File. The Census Bureau released SF1 in three stages: initial release, National Update, and Urban/Rural Update. The National Update added summary levels for the United States, regions, divisions, and geographic areas that cross state lines such as Combined Statistical Areas. This update adds urban and rural population and housing unit counts, summary levels for urban areas and the urban/rural components of census tracts and block groups, geographic components involving urbanized areas and urban clusters, and two new tables (household type by relationship for the population 65 years and over and a new tabulation of the total population by race). The initial release and National Update is available as ICPSR 33461. ICPSR supplies this data collection in 54 ZIP archives. There is a separate archive for each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the National File. The last archive contains a Microsoft Access database shell and additional documentation files besides the codebook.

This map uses dot density patterns to indicate which population is larger in each area: urban (green) or rural (blue). Data is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics. The map's layers contain total population counts by sex, age, and race groups for Nation, State, County, Census Tract, and Block Group in the United States and Puerto Rico.The U.S. Census designates each census block as part of an urban area or as rural. Larger geographies in this map such as block group, tract, county and state can therefore have a mix of urban and rural population. This map illustrates the 100% urban areas with all green dots, and 100% rural areas in dark blue dots. Areas with mixed urban/rural population have a proportional mix of green and blue dots to give a visual indication of where change may be happening. From the Census:"The Census Bureau’s urban-rural classification is a delineation of geographic areas, identifying both individual urban areas and the rural area of the nation. The Census Bureau’s urban areas represent densely developed territory, and encompass residential, commercial, and other non-residential urban land uses. The Census Bureau delineates urban areas after each decennial census by applying specified criteria to decennial census and other data. Rural encompasses all population, housing, and territory not included within an urban area.For the 2020 Census, an urban area will comprise a densely settled core of census blocks that meet minimum housing unit density and/or population density requirements. This includes adjacent territory containing non-residential urban land uses. To qualify as an urban area, the territory identified according to criteria must encompass at least 2,000 housing units or have a population of at least 5,000." SourceAbout the dataYou can use this map as is and you can also modify it to use other attributes included in its layers. This map's layers contain total population counts by sex, age, and race groups data from the 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics. This is shown by Nation, State, County, Census Tract, Block Group boundaries. Each geography layer contains a common set of Census counts based on available attributes from the U.S. Census Bureau. There are also additional calculated attributes related to this topic, which can be mapped or used within analysis.Vintage of boundaries and attributes: 2020 Demographic and Housing Characteristics Table(s): P1, H1, H3, P2, P3, P5, P12, P13, P17, PCT12 (Not all lines of these DHC tables are available in this feature layer.)Data downloaded from: U.S. Census Bureau’s data.census.gov siteDate the Data was Downloaded: May 25, 2023Geography Levels included: Nation, State, County, Census Tract, Block GroupNational Figures: included in Nation layer The United States Census Bureau Demographic and Housing Characteristics: 2020 Census Results 2020 Census Data Quality Geography & 2020 Census Technical Documentation Data Table Guide: includes the final list of tables, lowest level of geography by table and table shells for the Demographic Profile and Demographic and Housing Characteristics.News & Updates This map is ready to be used in ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online and its configurable apps, Story Maps, dashboards, Notebooks, Python, custom apps, and mobile apps. Data can also be exported for offline workflows. Please cite the U.S. Census Bureau when using this data. Data Processing Notes: These 2020 Census boundaries come from the US Census TIGER geodatabases. These are Census boundaries with water and/or coastlines erased for cartographic and mapping purposes. For Census tracts and block groups, the water cutouts are derived from a subset of the 2020 Areal Hydrography boundaries offered by TIGER. Water bodies and rivers which are 50 million square meters or larger (mid to large sized water bodies) are erased from the tract and block group boundaries, as well as additional important features. For state and county boundaries, the water and coastlines are derived from the coastlines of the 2020 500k TIGER Cartographic Boundary Shapefiles. These are erased to more accurately portray the coastlines and Great Lakes. The original AWATER and ALAND fields are unchanged and available as attributes within the data table (units are square meters).  The layer contains all US states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. Census tracts with no population that occur in areas of water, such as oceans, are removed from this data service (Census Tracts beginning with 99). Block groups that fall within the same criteria (Block Group denoted as 0 with no area land) have also been removed.Percentages and derived counts, are calculated values (that can be identified by the "_calc_" stub in the field name). Field alias names were created based on the Table Shells file available from the Data Table Guide for the Demographic Profile and Demographic and Housing Characteristics. Not all lines of all tables listed above are included in this layer. Duplicative counts were dropped. For example, P0030001 was dropped, as it is duplicative of P0010001.To protect the privacy and confidentiality of respondents, their data has been protected using differential privacy techniques by the U.S. Census Bureau.

As of 2024, an estimated 86 percent of Europeans living in rural areas accessed the internet, compared to 85 percent of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) rural population. The lowest internet usage reach was in rural areas in Africa, at 23 percent. Overall, urban areas presented a higher percentage of internet penetration.

The 2013 Census usually resident population count, household, and occupied dwellings (private and non-private) data has been rebased to the 2018 meshblock geography and is shown according to the new statistical geographies and urban rural classification developed as a result of the Statistical Standard for Geographic Areas 2018 (SSGA18) review. The data is experimental and is provided as a guide to understanding the impact of the new geographic boundaries on the previous census counts.

Note: This data has been randomly rounded to protect confidentiality. Individual figures may not add up to totals, and values for the same data may vary in different tables

For further information see the attachments below: Information about data; 2013 Census counts on UR2018 lookup; and ANZLIC 2018 Metadata Urban Rural.

Rural and urban population 1990 - 2017, FAOSTAT (website: http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#country/127)

In 2024, about 943.5 million people lived in urban regions in China and 464.8 million in rural. That year, the country had a total population of approximately 1.41 billion people. As of 2024, China was the second most populous country in the world. Urbanization in China Urbanization refers to the process by which people move from rural to urban areas and how a society adapts to the population shift. It is usually seen as a driving force in economic growth, accompanied by industrialization, modernization and the spread of education. Urbanization levels tend to be higher in industrial countries, whereas the degree of urbanization in developing countries remains relatively low. According to World Bank, a mere 19.4 percent of the Chinese population had been living in urban areas in 1980. Since then, China’s urban population has skyrocketed. By 2024, about 67 percent of the Chinese population lived in urban areas. Regional urbanization rates In the last decades, urbanization has progressed greatly in every region of China. Even in most of the more remote Chinese provinces, the urbanization rate surpassed 50 percent in recent years. However, the most urbanized areas are still to be found in the coastal eastern and southern regions of China. The population of Shanghai, the largest city in China and the world’s seventh largest city ranged at around 24 million people in 2023. China’s urban areas are characterized by a developing middle class. Per capita disposable income of Chinese urban households has more than doubled between 2010 and 2020. The emerging middle class is expected to become a significant driver for the continuing growth of the Chinese economy.

This is 2011 rural-urban classification (RUC) of Local Authority Districts. This part of the Rural Urban Classification is available only for England and complements another part of the classification concerned to classify small areas (Output Areas (OAs); Super Output Areas (SOAs) and wards) in both England and Wales. It is important to appreciate that to a substantial degree RUC of Local Authority Districts in both its new and earlier forms rests on this corresponding lower level classification. This lower level small-area classification was originally developed for a consortium of government agencies for use with the 2001 Census and revised following the 2011 Census for a similar consortium which included the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Welsh Government (WG). The RUC of Local Authority Districts was produced by the University of Sheffield and was sponsored by a cross-Government working group comprising Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department of the Communities and Local Government and Office for National Statistics.21/06/2017: UPDATED - it was noticed that not all the fields were present on the original - possibly due to a corruption when uploading the CSV file to ArcGIS Online. This has been rectified by uploading the files in ZIP file format.24/09/2018: UPDATED - with the new local authority name of Folkestone and Hythe

Urban rural 2023 update

UR 2023 is the first major update of the geography since it was first created in 2018. The update is to ensure UR geographies are relevant and meet criteria before each five-yearly population and dwelling census. UR 2023 contains 13 new rural settlements and 7 new small urban areas. Updates were made to reflect real world change including new subdivisions and motorways, and to improve delineation of urban areas and rural settlements. The Wānaka urban area, whose population has grown to be more than 10,000 based on population estimates, has been reclassified to a medium urban area in the 2023 urban rural indicator.

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In the 2023 classification there are:

• 7 major urban areas
• 13 large urban areas
• 23 medium urban areas
• 152 small urban areas
• 402 rural settlements.

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This dataset is the definitive version of the annually released urban rural (UR) boundaries as at 1 January 2023 as defined by Stats NZ (the custodian), clipped to the coastline. This clipped version has been created for cartographic purposes and so does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries. This version contains 689 UR areas, including 195 urban areas and 402 rural settlements.

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Urban rural (UR) is an output geography that classifies New Zealand into areas that share common urban or rural characteristics and is used to disseminate a broad range of Stats NZ’s social, demographic and economic statistics.

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The UR separately identifies urban areas, rural settlements, other rural areas, and water areas. Urban areas and rural settlements are form-based geographies delineated by the inspection of aerial imagery, local government land designations on district plan maps, address registers, property title data, and any other available information. However, because the underlying meshblock pattern is used to define the geographies, boundaries may not align exactly with local government land designations or what can be seen in aerial images. Other rural areas, and bodies of water represent areas not included within an urban area.

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Urban areas are built from the statistical area 2 (SA2) geography, while rural and water areas are built from the statistical area 1 (SA1) geography.

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Non-digitised

The following 4 non-digitised UR areas have been aggregated from the 16 non-digitised meshblocks/SA2s.

6901; Oceanic outside region, 6902; Oceanic oil rigs, 6903; Islands outside region, 6904; Ross Dependency outside region.

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UR numbering and naming

Each urban area and rural settlement is a single geographic entity with a name and a numeric code.

Other rural areas, inland water areas, and inlets are defined by territorial authority; oceanic areas are defined by regional council; and each have a name and a numeric code.

Urban rural codes have four digits. North Island locations start with a 1, South Island codes start with a 2, oceanic codes start with a 6 and non-digitised codes start with 69.

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Urban rural indicator (IUR)

The accompanying urban rural indicator (IUR) classifies the urban, rural, and water areas by type. Urban areas are further classified by the size of their estimated resident population:

• major urban area – 100,000 or more residents,
• large urban area – 30,000–99,999 residents,
• medium urban area – 10,000–29,999 residents,
• small urban area – 1,000–9,999 residents.

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This was based on 2018 Census data and 2021 population estimates. Their IUR status (urban area size/rural settlement) may change if the 2023 Census population count moves them up or down a category.

The indicators, by name, with their codes in brackets, are:

urban area – major urban (11), large urban (12), medium urban (13), small urban (14),

rural area – rural settlement (21), rural other (22),

water – inland water (31), inlet (32), oceanic (33).

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The urban rural indicator complements the urban rural geography and is an attribute in this dataset. Further information on the urban rural indicator is available on the Stats NZ classification and coding tool ARIA.

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For more information please refer to the Statistical standard for geographic areas 2023.

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Clipped version

This clipped version has been created for cartographic purposes and so does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries.

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Macrons

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The column name for those without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

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Digital data

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

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To download geographic classifications in table formats such as CSV please use Ariā

Baltimore County's Urban Rural Demarcation Line (URDL) has divided the county into "urban" and "rural" areas since established by the Planning Board in 1967. Developed primarily as a growth management tool, it has influenced zoning, land-use, and infrustructure decisions, and was the baseline for the Baltimore County part of Maryland's Priority Funding Area. However, this boundary (digitized at a scale of 1:24,000 where 1" represents 2,000') was became obsolete as the county's GIS data increased in resolution (to 1:2,400 where 1" represents 200'). Until recently, determining a property's status as either urban or rural was of a highly interpretative nature. A new URDL was developed to more accurately match the 1:2,400 data (parcel, street centerline, zoning, etc). This version was reviewed and modified in a series of meetings with several interested county agencies. The new URDL removes much of the old one's ambiguity while keeping its original intent. The new URDL was reviewed, modified, and subsequently approved by the Planning Board on June 19, 2003. Minor revisions were effected 9/2/04, 10/21/04, 9/4/07, 5/21/09, 10/1/09 and 11/15/12. The URDL_poly feature class is one part of the URDL feature dataset.

This dataset contains measures of the urban/rural characteristics of each census tract in the United States. These include proportions of urban and rural population, population density, rural/urban commuting area (RUCA) codes, and RUCA-based four- and seven-category urbanicity scales.

Bermuda BM: Rural Population: % of Total Population data was reported at 0.000 % in 2023. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.000 % for 2022. Bermuda BM: Rural Population: % of Total Population data is updated yearly, averaging 0.000 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.000 % in 2023 and a record low of 0.000 % in 2023. Bermuda BM: Rural Population: % of Total Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Bermuda – Table BM.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population.;World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects: 2018 Revision.;Weighted average;