Libya vs Mauritania: Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas
Libya
1.73 million people
in 2020
Mauritania
1.88 million people
in 2020
Libya rank
110th
Mauritania rank
108th
Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas over time
- Libya
- Mauritania
How they compare
Mauritania currently reports 1.88 million people against 1.73 million people in Libya, a difference of 149,200 people.
That makes Mauritania's figure about 1.1 times Libya's.
The two have swapped places 3 times across 15 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Libya ahead.
Libya ranks 110th and Mauritania ranks 108th of 236 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, Libya averaged higher in 5 and Mauritania in 3.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Libya | Mauritania | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 577,456 people | 558,087 people | 19,368 people | Libya |
| 1960s | 692,662 people | 694,318 people | 1,656 people | Mauritania |
| 1970s | 820,097 people | 897,548 people | 77,450 people | Mauritania |
| 1980s | 1.17 million people | 1.02 million people | 147,870 people | Libya |
| 1990s | 1.33 million people | 1.17 million people | 159,120 people | Libya |
| 2000s | 1.44 million people | 1.37 million people | 69,785 people | Libya |
| 2010s | 1.62 million people | 1.59 million people | 30,575 people | Libya |
| 2020s | 1.73 million people | 1.88 million people | 149,200 people | Mauritania |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas, Libya or Mauritania?
- Mauritania, at 1.88 million people against 1.73 million people in Libya as of 2020.
- What is the difference in number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas between Libya and Mauritania?
- 149,200 people, with Mauritania ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Libya and Mauritania?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Libya and Mauritania rank globally for number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas?
- Libya ranks 110th and Mauritania ranks 108th of 236 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Estimated number of people living in rural areas. Rural areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.