Comparability — Afghanistan [top]

Afghanistan defines sixty-six designated localities and provincial centers as urban.

Comparability — Bangladesh [top]

Bangladesh defines localities with a municipality, town committee, or cantonment board as urban. In general, urban areas are a concentration of at least 5,000 persons in a continuous collection of houses where the community sense is well developed and the community maintains public utilities. These places are generally trade centers with a largely non-agricultural labor force and high literacy levels. Areas with the above urban characteristics but fewer than 5,000 persons may be considered urban in special circumstances.

Comparability — Benin [top]

Beginning in 1992, Benin defined "urban" as any community with at least 10,000 inhabitants. Beginning with the 2002 census, the following are defined as "urban":

• All commune capitals (former urban communes of the former sub-prefecture or urban constituencies) with at least 10,000 inhabitants, and at least one of the following infrastructure systems: post office and telecommunication office, treasury department office, water supply system, electricity, health center, school system with 2nd secondary cycle
• Any arrondissement with at least 4 of the above infrastructure systems and at least 10,000 inhabitants

Comparability — Burkina Faso [top]

Burkina Faso defines localities with 10,000 or more inhabitants and sufficient socioeconomic and administrative infrastructures as urban.

Comparability — Cameroon [top]

Beginning in 1897, Cameroon defined "urban" areas as groups of cities and "rural" areas as groups of villages. A city is defined as an entity which either has an administrative function (i.e. headquarters of a district, sub-division, division, or province), or has a population of at least 5,000 inhabitants and the following socioeconomic and administrative facilities: a complete primary school, a developed health center, water supply and electricity facilities, and a daily market.

A village is a traditional unit headed by a third class chief and made up of one or more localities or towns (an inhabited site with boundaries, identified by a name recognized by the people.

Comparability — Chad [top]

Chad defines administrative centers of prefectures, sub-prefectures, and administrative posts and urban.

Comparability — Congo (Democratic Republic) [top]

The Democratic Republic of the Congo defines localities with 2,000 or more inhabitants where the predominant economic activity is non-agricultural. Certain places with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants are also considered urban, based on their type of economic activity (predominantly non-agricultural).

Comparability — Cote d'Ivoire [top]

Cote d'Ivoire defines the following places as urban:

• Agglomerations with 10,000 inhabitants or more
• Agglomerations with populations between 4,000 and 10,000 with more than 50% of the inhabitants engaged in non-agricultural activities
• Administrative centers of Grand Lahoun and Dabakala

Comparability — Egypt [top]

Egypt defines the following places as urban:

• The governorates of Cairo (al-Qahirah), Alexandria (al-Iskandariyah), Port-Said (Bur Sa'id), Ismailia (al-Isma'iliyah), and Suez (as-Suways)
• Frontier governorates
• Capitals of other governorates
• District capitals

Comparability — Eswatini (Swaziland) [top]

Eswatini/Swaziland does not have a statistical definition of urban.

Comparability — Ethiopia [top]

Beginning in 1994, Ethiopia defined "urban" as localities in which Urban Kebele Administration (previously known as Urban Dwellers' Assocations) had been established. Localities with 1,000 or more persons whose inhabitants were primarily engaged in non-agricultural activities and capitals of Weredas were also considered urban, regardless of the establishement of Urban Kebele Administration.

From 2007 forward, urban areas are defined as localities with 2,000 or more inhabitants, all administrative capitals (regardless of the number of inhabitants), and localities of 1,000 or more persons if those inhabitants were engaged primarily in non-agricultural activities.

Comparability — Ghana [top]

Ghana defines localities with 5,000 or more inhabitants as urban.

Comparability — Guinea [top]

Beginning in 1983, Guinea defines administrative centers of prefectures as urban. The rest of the territory is classified as rural.

Comparability — India [top]

India defines the following places as urban:

• Statutory places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee
• Places satisfying the following three criteria simultaneously:
• • A minimum population of at least 5,000 inhabitants
  • At least 75% of the adult male population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits
  • A population density of at least 400 per square kilometer or 1000 per square mile

Comparability — Jordan [top]

Jordan defines localities with 5,000 or more inhabitants, and district and sub-district centers of each governorate (regardless of population size) as urban.

Comparability — Kenya [top]

Beginning with the 1969 census, Kenya defines urban as towns with more than 2,000 inhabitants.

In the 1999 census, there are two additional source categories beyond urban and rural:

• Peri-urban includes areas that are on the periphery of given towns but urban in character
• Environ designates areas that are rural in character within urban centers

The 2009 census defines only urban, rural, and peri-urban.

DHS data for Kenya contains only "urban" and "rural." Peri-urban and environ are likely classified as rural by The DHS Program to ensure consistency.

Comparability — Lesotho [top]

Lesotho defines district headquarters and other settlements with rapid population growth and with facilities and infrastructure that encourage inhabitants to engage in non-agricultural economic activities as urban.

Comparability — Madagascar [top]

Madagascar defines centers with 5,000 or more inhabitants as urban.

Comparability — Malawi [top]

Malawi defines an urban area as all townships, town planning areas, and district centers.

Comparability — Mali [top]

Prior to 1998, Mali defined localities with 5,000 or more inhabitants and district centers as urban. Beginning in 1998, urban was defined as localities with 30,000 or more inhabitants, and from 2009 forward, urban is defined as localities with 40,000 or more inhabitants.

Comparability — Morocco [top]

Morocco does not have a statistical definition of urban; urban areas change their boundaries over time. The 1987 Moroccan sample does not include this variable.

Comparability — Mozambique [top]

Beginning in 1997, Mozambique defines 23 cities and 68 towns as urban.

Comparability — Myanmar [top]

The 2017 Statistical Yearbook from the Myanmar Statistical Information Service provided the following definitions:

Comparability — Namibia [top]

Namibia defines district headquarters and other settlements with rapid population growth and with facilities and infrastructure that encourage inhabitants to engage in non-agricultural economic activities as urban.

Comparability — Nepal [top]

From 1981 to 1999, Nepal defined localities with 9,000 or more inhabitants as urban. Beginning in 1999, Nepal uses a complex set of rules varying by ecological zones and based on annual revenue, population size, and infrastructure to define urban.

Comparability — Niger [top]

Niger defines localities serving as administrative headquarters for departments and arrondissements and localities with an administrative headquarters with 2,500 or more inhabitants as urban.

Comparability — Nigeria [top]

Nigeria defines towns with 20,000 or more inhabitants whose main occupations are primarily non-agricultural as urban.

Comparability — Pakistan [top]

Pakistan defines places with a municipal corporation, town committee, or cantonment as urban.

Comparability — Rwanda [top]

Rwanda defines the following places as urban:

• All districts/townships in Kigali Ville (capital)
• Administrative centers of prefectures and their important agglomerations with their surroundings

Comparability — Senegal [top]

Senegal defines agglomerations of 10,000 or more inhabitants as urban.

Comparability — South Africa [top]

South Africa defines urban based on dominant settlement type and land use. Cities, towns, townships, suburbs, etc. are considered urban. Enumeration areas comprising informal settlements, hostels, institutions, industrial and recreational areas, and smallholdings within or adjacent to any formal urban settlement are also classified as urban.

Comparability — Sudan [top]

Sudan defines localities of administrative and/or commercial importance with a population of 5,000 or more inhabitants as urban.

Comparability — Tanzania [top]

Beginning with the 1988 census, Tanzania classifies each ward as "urban," "rural," or "mixed." Beginning in 2002, urban areas are defined as the localities that are identified as urban areas by the district authority. There is no clear and uniform definition applied by the various districts in the country. From the 2012 census forward, urban areas are defined as the areas legally recognized (gazetted) as urban and all areas recognized by local government authorities as urban.

All regional and district headquarters are defined as urban, as well as all wards with urban characteristics. No specific numerical values of population size and density are identified.

Comparability — Togo [top]

Beginning with the 1981 census, Togo classifies 21 administrative centers of prefectures as urban.

Comparability — Uganda [top]

From 1991 to 2002, Uganda defined cities, municipalities, towns, town boards, and all trading centers with 1,000 or more inhabitants as urban. Beginning with the 2002 census, gazetted cities, municipalities and towns with 2,000 or more inhabitants are defined as urban.

Comparability — Yemen [top]

Yemen defines the capitals of 17 governorates and other towns as urban.

Comparability — Zambia [top]

Zambia defines localities of 5,000 or more inhabitants with a majority of the labor force engaged in non-agricultural activities as urban.

Comparability — Zimbabwe [top]

According to the report for the 2012 Zimbabwe national census, the definition of an urban area was based on the following criteria:

• Designated urban areas
• Places with all of the following characteristics:
• • At least 2,500 inhabitants
  • A compact settlement pattern
  • More than 50 percent of employed persons engaged in non-agricultural occupations