Back in time
Countries through time
Colour every country by one of about 45 measures and watch it change year by year, then chart the countries you care about side by side.
Open the live mapWhat you see
- About 45 measures, from life expectancy, GDP per person and population to temperature and urbanisation.
- Projections hatched on the map, where a source publishes them, running on to between 2028 and 2100.
- Click a country to chart it over time; up to six side by side.
Where the data comes from
- World BankWorld Development Indicators, Global Economic Prospects and the Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
- Our World in DataLong-run series, among them GDP per person and population.
- United NationsWorld Population Prospects and World Urbanization Prospects.
- IMF, OECD and ERA5Economic outlooks and climate reanalysis.
Each measure follows its source’s latest release.
Good to know
- Values are drawn on today’s borders, and years between two published values are estimated.
- Projections are projections, not forecasts of what will happen.
- The live layers pause while History is open.
Goes well with
The world through historyAn interactive historical atlas: the world’s borders year by year from 3400 BCE, with wars, battles and other events from 7500 BCE, on a 3D globe.
World War II in EuropeEurope in the Second World War on an interactive map: borders, alliances and occupation month by month from February 1938 to May 1945, with the battles.