Historical Urban Population: 3700 BC - AD 2000
The Historical Urban Population, 3700 BC - AD 2000, originally developed by the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, is the first spatially explicit global data set containing location and size of urban populations over the last 6,000 years. The data set was created by digitizing, transcribing, and geocoding historical, archaeological, and census-based urban population data. Each data point consists of a city name, latitude, longitude, year, population, and a reliability ranking to assess the geographic uncertainty of each data point. Despite spatial and temporal gaps, no other geocoded data set at this resolution exists. It can therefore be used to investigate long-term historical urbanization trends and patterns, evaluate the current era of urbanization, and build a richer record of urban population through history.
Complete Metadata
| @type | dcat:Dataset |
|---|---|
| accessLevel | public |
| bureauCode |
[
"026:00"
]
|
| contactPoint |
{
"fn": "undefined",
"@type": "vcard:Contact",
"hasEmail": "mailto:metadata@ciesin.columbia.edu"
}
|
| description | The Historical Urban Population, 3700 BC - AD 2000, originally developed by the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, is the first spatially explicit global data set containing location and size of urban populations over the last 6,000 years. The data set was created by digitizing, transcribing, and geocoding historical, archaeological, and census-based urban population data. Each data point consists of a city name, latitude, longitude, year, population, and a reliability ranking to assess the geographic uncertainty of each data point. Despite spatial and temporal gaps, no other geocoded data set at this resolution exists. It can therefore be used to investigate long-term historical urbanization trends and patterns, evaluate the current era of urbanization, and build a richer record of urban population through history. |
| distribution |
[
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "View documentation related to this dataset",
"format": "HTML",
"mediaType": "text/html",
"description": "Data Set Overview Page",
"downloadURL": "https://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/urbanspatial-hist-urban-pop-3700bc-ad2000"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "View documentation related to this dataset",
"format": "HTML",
"mediaType": "text/html",
"description": "Documentation Page",
"downloadURL": "https://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/urbanspatial-hist-urban-pop-3700bc-ad2000/docs"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Get a related visualization",
"format": "JPEG",
"mediaType": "image/jpeg",
"description": "Sample browse graphic of the data set.",
"downloadURL": "https://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/downloads/maps/urbanspatial/urbanspatial-hist-urban-pop-3700bc-ad2000/urbanspatial-hist-urban-pop-3700bc-ad2000-number-records-thumbnail.jpg"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Google Scholar search results",
"format": "HTML",
"mediaType": "text/html",
"description": "Search results for publications that cite this dataset by its DOI.",
"downloadURL": "https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=10.7927%2FH4ZG6QBX"
}
]
|
| identifier | C1527281913-SEDAC |
| issued | 2018-05-04 |
| keyword |
[
"earth-science",
"human-dimensions",
"population"
]
|
| language |
[
"en-US"
]
|
| modified | 2025-07-17 |
| programCode |
[
"026:001"
]
|
| publisher |
{
"name": "SEDAC",
"@type": "org:Organization"
}
|
| references |
[
"https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.34"
]
|
| spatial | -180.0 -60.0 180.0 85.0 |
| temporal | 1700-01-01T00:00:00Z/2000-12-31T00:00:00Z |
| theme |
[
"USPAT",
"geospatial"
]
|
| title | Historical Urban Population: 3700 BC - AD 2000 |
