WorldPop News

Animation showing level 2 degree of urbanisation around Kinshasa, 2015-30

Mapping People, Places and Change: Exploring WorldPop’s Latest Global Data Releases

Understanding where and how populations are distributed, and how they shift over time, is at the heart of planning for health services, responding to disasters, designing cities, and tackling global challenges like climate change. WorldPop’s mission has always been to make high-resolution population and demographic data openly available, and the latest batch of global datasets […]

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Visible infrared satellite loop of Cyclone Ditwah, by SSEC/CIMSS, University of Wisconsin–Madison

How Open Population Data Makes a Difference in Crisis Response

In major disasters, rapid response depends on two critical pieces of information: how many people are affected and where they are. This knowledge enables responders to prioritise aid delivery to the most vulnerable populations. Recent evidence from Sri Lanka shows that open population data from WorldPop helps answer these questions quickly and reliably. Cyclone Ditwah

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Photo of Dr Sarchil Qader with Dr Salahalddin Saeed the President of Komar University of Science and Technology

WorldPop Strengthens Academic Links with Komar University

WorldPop Senior Research Fellow Dr Sarchil Qader met this week with Dr Salahalddin Saeed the President of Komar University of Science and Technology (KUST) to discuss opportunities for strengthening academic collaboration between the University of Southampton, WorldPop, and universities across the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Discussions focused on developing student and staff exchange programmes and

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Photo of a truck a, a bus and a motorcycle on a city street during a flood.

The Data Behind the Shield: How Early Warnings and Population Maps Save Lives

Each year, tropical cyclones threaten more than a billion people living in low-lying coastal cities. As storms grow more intense and cities expand, the stakes are rising. But a recent study led by Dr Haiyan Liu, a visiting researcher with WorldPop, shows that multi-hazard early warnings supported by more effective use of data can dramatically

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Photo of Suri Woman carrying a child while walking on a dirt road, Tulgit

Mapping the Last Mile: How Data Is Helping Reach Unvaccinated Children

Imagine a life-saving vaccine is available, but reaching it means walking for hours, sometimes days. For millions of families in low- and middle-income countries, this isn’t a thought experiment. It’s everyday life. In 2021 alone, around 15.7 million children did not receive their first dose of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP1) vaccine. One of the biggest challenges

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Photo of man looking at map application on a computer screen

Start the New Year by Exploring WorldPop’s Free Learning Resources

As we set fresh goals for the new year – whether to learn something new, develop new skills, or make a bigger impact in our work or studies – WorldPop’s learning resources offer a rich and accessible way to grow your understanding of population data and geospatial analysis for global good. These free, expert-created materials

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Satellite view of Ekohok, Cameroon

Mapping the Invisible: How Technology Is Filling the World’s Population Data Gaps

How many people live in a neighbourhood, a village, or a city block? It sounds like a simple question, but for millions of people around the world, the answer is still unclear. Accurate, local population data is essential for everything from planning health services and responding to disasters to allocating resources fairly. Yet traditional national

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Photo of Street Vendors, Guilin, China

When Heatwaves Strike, Do City Adaptation Measures Really Help?

As climate change intensifies, extreme heat is becoming a daily reality for millions of people living in cities. In response, governments are rolling out heat adaptation measures such as cooling centres, greener urban spaces and public heat warnings. But a crucial question remains: do these strategies actually work, and do they work equally for everyone?

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