SEDAC – Dataset Catalog Gridded Population of the World, Version 2 (GPWv2)

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Gridded Population of the World, Version 2 (GPWv2)

Gridded Population of the World, Version 2 (GPWv2) consists of estimates of human population for the years 1995 and 1990 by 2.5 arc-minute grid cells. The data products are population counts (raw counts), population densities (per square km), and land area (actual area net of ice and water), all of which are available in two GIS-compatible data formats at the global, continent (Antarctica not included), and country levels. A proportional allocation gridding algorithm, utilizing 127,105 national and sub-national administrative units, is used to assign population values to grid cells. Advantages to GPWv2 include higher quality data from the U.S., Africa, Australia, Canada, Europe, Russia, New Zealand, and India; 8 times the number of administrative units; national population estimates that have been adjusted to match the United Nations national estimated population for each country; a proportional allocation algorithm that reduces error with multiple input polygons; and higher spatial resolution. GPWv2 is produced by the Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) in collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and World Resources Institute (WRI).