ISLSCP II Global Population of the World

Global Population of the World (GPW) translates census population data to a latitude-longitude grid so that population data may be used in cross-disciplinary studies. There are three data files with this data set for the reference years 1990 and 1995. Over 127,000 administrative units and population counts were collected and integrated from various sources to create the gridded data. In brief, GPW was created using the following steps: * Population data were estimated for the product reference years, 1990 and 1995, either by the data source or by interpolating or extrapolating the given estimates for other years. * Additional population estimates were created by adjusting the source population data to match UN national population estimates for the reference years. * Borders and coastlines of the spatial data were matched to the Digital Chart of the World where appropriate and lakes from the Digital Chart of the World were added. * The resulting data were then transformed into grids of UN-adjusted and unadjusted population counts for the reference years. * Grids containing the area of administrative boundary data in each cell (net of lakes) were created and used with the count grids to produce population densities.As with any global data set based on multiple data sources, the spatial and attribute precision of GPW is variable. The level of detail and accuracy, both in time and space, vary among the countries for which data were obtained.

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
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citation Balk, D., U. Deichmann, G. Yetman, F.G. Hall, G.J. Collatz, B.W. Meeson, S.O. Los, E.Brown De Colstoun, and D.R. Landis. 2010. ISLSCP II Global Population of the World. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. http://dx.doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/975
graphic-preview-description Browse Image
graphic-preview-file https://daac.ornl.gov/graphics/browse/sdat-tds/975_1_fit.png
identifier C179002787-ORNL_DAAC
issued 2010-04-19
landingPage https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/975
language {en-US}
metadata_type geospatial
modified 2019-04-15
programCode {026:001}
publisher ORNL_DAAC
resource-type Dataset
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spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-180.0, -90.0], [180.0, -90.0], [180.0, 90.0], [-180.0, 90.0], [-180.0, -90.0]]]}
temporal 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z/1995-12-31T23:59:59Z
theme {"ISLSCP II",geospatial}
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • ckan
  • earth-science
  • geo
  • geoss
  • human-dimensions
  • land-surface
  • land-use-land-cover
  • national
  • national-geospatial-data-asset
  • ngda
  • north-america
  • population
  • united-states
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license_title License not specified
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maintainer_email uso@daac.ornl.gov
metadata_created 2025-11-22T07:10:02.703835
metadata_modified 2025-11-22T07:10:02.703839
notes Global Population of the World (GPW) translates census population data to a latitude-longitude grid so that population data may be used in cross-disciplinary studies. There are three data files with this data set for the reference years 1990 and 1995. Over 127,000 administrative units and population counts were collected and integrated from various sources to create the gridded data. In brief, GPW was created using the following steps: * Population data were estimated for the product reference years, 1990 and 1995, either by the data source or by interpolating or extrapolating the given estimates for other years. * Additional population estimates were created by adjusting the source population data to match UN national population estimates for the reference years. * Borders and coastlines of the spatial data were matched to the Digital Chart of the World where appropriate and lakes from the Digital Chart of the World were added. * The resulting data were then transformed into grids of UN-adjusted and unadjusted population counts for the reference years. * Grids containing the area of administrative boundary data in each cell (net of lakes) were created and used with the count grids to produce population densities.As with any global data set based on multiple data sources, the spatial and attribute precision of GPW is variable. The level of detail and accuracy, both in time and space, vary among the countries for which data were obtained.
num_resources 9
num_tags 15
title ISLSCP II Global Population of the World