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Updated: April 23, 2002

 
Maps: Demography

Europe's population density: a digital elevation model (DEM) with overlay of stable night lights

Source:

 Images used with permission from CEOS GLOBE Task Team, World Data Center - A, National Geophysical Data Center (Head: David Hastings)
The colors from the original map images were edited for greater visual clarity.

Note:

 This map is a combination of two maps: (1) a Global Land One-km Base Elevation (GLOBE) map with topographic color and shaded elevation relief with bathymetry from Smith and Sandwell; 
and (2) a map of stable lights (cities, villages, gas flares, etc.) from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program.
The colors were edited for greater visual clarity.
Please note that these are 2nd generation images of stable night lights, which allow distinction of artificial lights, gas flaring, and forest fires.

As we can see from this map of stable night lights, Europe’s population is highly concentrated along the coastlines and in a corridor reaching from the Netherlands down the Rhine valley to northern Italy (see the red areas). There are very large rural areas of thinly populated space in Norway, Sweden and Finland and some parts of Spain. This very uneven population distribution is a reason for great concern, especially among the Nordic countries.
We plan to use the stable night light remote sensing data (in collaboration with the IIASA TNT project) for innovative spatial analyses. For instance, we will study relationships between population density and regional energy consumption, regional GDP, or infrastructure development.
Related Tables & Charts
European Rural Development (ERD) Project.  Copyright © 2002 by IIASA. All rights reserved.