Global Population Distribution Database from UNEP/GRID-Sioux Falls

Population databases are forming the backbone of many important
studies modelling the complex interactions between population growth
and environmental degradation, predicting the effects of global
climate change on humans, and assessing the risks of various hazards
such as floods, air pollution and radiation. Detailed information on
population size, growth and distribution (along with many other
environmental parameters) is of fundamental importance to such
efforts. This database includes rural population distributions,
population distrbution for cities and gridded global population
distributions.

This project has provided a population database depicting the
worldwide distribution of population in a 1X1 latitude/longitude grid
system. The database is unique, firstly, in that it makes use of the
most recent data available (1990). Secondly, it offers true
apportionment for each grid cell that is, if a cell contains
populations from two different countries, each is assigned a
percentage of the grid cell area, rather than artificially assigning
the whole cell to one or the other country (this is especially
important for European countries). Thirdly, the database gives the
percentage of a country's total population accounted for in each
cell. So if a country's total in a given year around 1990 (1989 or
1991, for example) is known, then population in each cell can be
calculated by using the percentage given in the database with the
assumption that the growth rate in each cell of the country is the
same. And lastly, this dataset is easy to be updated for each country
as new national population figures become available.