Kontur - Population - Global (H3 res. 8, 2021)

Population density dataset with global coverage.

This dataset uses Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) overlaid with Facebook population data where available. Known artifacts of both are constrained using OpenStreetMap data as a hint. Microsoft Building Footprint data is used to improve accuracy for the USA, Canada, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Building presence, or otherwise built-up area, implies there’s someone on the ground, which is often missed in Facebook Africa data. Quarries and big roads are marked as unpopulated, as they are often falsely detected as populated in GHSL. Lakes, rivers, glaciers, sands, forests, and other alike land uses are marked as unpopulated. Overly hot pixels (“half a million people in a quarter of square kilometer”) are spread to more realistic surroundings. Totals are not touched in any way; the population is shifted to neighboring cells to satisfy constraints. Non-integer population counts are fixed up by gluing people back together to complete human beings.

More information about this dataset [here](https://carto.com/spatial-data-catalog/browser/dataset/kont_population_248cc554/)