We are in the process of migrating all NASA Earth science data sites into Earthdata from now until end of 2026. Not all NASA Earth science data and resources will appear here until then. Thank you for your patience as we make this transition.Read about the Web Unification Project
Description
The Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density consists of estimates of human population density based on counts consistent with national censuses and population registers, for the years 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. A proportional allocation gridding algorithm, utilizing approximately 12.5 million national and sub-national administrative units, is used to assign population values to 30 arc-second (~1 km) grid cells. The population density grids are derived by dividing the population count grids by the land area grids. The pixel values represent persons per square kilometer.
Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.
Copy Citation
Citation Copied
Center For International Earth Science Information Network-CIESIN-Columbia University. (2016). Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density [Data set]. Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). https://doi.org/10.7927/H4NP22DQ Date Accessed: 2026-06-04
Center For International Earth Science Information Network-CIESIN-Columbia University. “Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density.” Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), 2016. doi:10.7927/H4NP22DQ. Date Accessed: 2026-06-04
Center For International Earth Science Information Network-CIESIN-Columbia University. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density. Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), 2016, doi:10.7927/H4NP22DQ. Date Accessed: 2026-06-04
Daru, Barnabas H., Park, Daniel S., Primack, Richard B., Willis, Charles G., Barrington, David S., Whitfeld, Timothy J. S., Seidler, Tristram G., Sweeney, Patrick W., Foster, David R., Ellison, Aaron M., Davis, Charles C.