Database for Development Economics Research:
GIS Data

Macro data:

1. NASA’s Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC): The website provides GIS data that focus on human interactions with the environment. Data themes include agriculture, climate, conservation, governance, hazards, health, infrastructure, land use, marine and coastal, population, poverty, remote sensing, sustainability, urban, and water.

2. Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, University of Wisconsin–Madison: The website provides spatial data on environment, agriculture, and population.

3. Terra-i: The website provides data on abnormal changes in land cover with the frequency of 16 days. The system uses a computational neural network to predict the greenness of each 250m square of land and report the abnormal changes.

4. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)-Global Resource Information Database (GRID)

   • UNEP-GRID Geneva: The Global Resource Information Database - Geneva (GRID-Geneva) is created from a partnership between the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the University of Geneva (UniGe). The website provides spatial environment data.

   • UNEP-GRID Sioux Falls: The North American node of UNEP's Global Resource Information Database (GRID) or GRID-Sioux Falls is created from a partnership between the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The website provides spatial data on population distribution.

5. Free GIS Data by Robin Wilson: This website provides hundreds of links to external websites which provide free GIS data. Country-specific websites are also categorized by country. The website is created by Robin Wilson, a freelancer in GIS, remote sensing and data science.

6. European Environmental Agency (EEA): EEA website provides data on Europe’s environment. The website also has some spatial datasets e.g. Copernicus Land Monitoring Service, WISE EIONET spatial data sets, WISE WFD protected area spatial data sets, WISE WFD reference spatial data sets, WISE Water Accounts Spatial Units dataset, and WISE Water Accounts database for Europe.

7. China Data Institute: Mainly provides commercial data but also has free GIS data e.g. administrative boundary, soil map, elevation, roads, railroads, river, and much more. China Data Institute also has its Harvard Dataverse webpage.

8. DIVA-GIS: The website provides free global-level data and country-level data. Country-level data on administrative areas, inland water, roads, railroads, elevation, land cover, population, and gazetteer can be downloaded. The website also has global-level country boundaries and several links to external websites.

9. The Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) by OCHA: An open platform for sharing data by the Centre for Humanitarian Data of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). A good source for GIS Data on natural disasters, population density, facilities, and infrastructures. Below are examples of some interesting datasets (The website has many datasets, but those below are mostly exports from OpenStreetMaps by the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, except for the storm tracks, Thailand, and Pakistan datasets).

   • Asia Pacific: Storm tracks 1956-2018

   • East Asia

     • Bhutan: Airports, Education facilities, Financial services, Health facilities, Railways, Roads, Seaports, Waterways

     • China:

       • Airports (C, E, N, S1, S2, W1, W2)

       • Education facilities (C, E, N, S1, S2, W1, W2)

       • Financial services (C, E, N, S1, S2, W1, W2)

       • Health facilities (C, E, N, S1, S2, W1, W2)

       • Railways (C, E, N, S1, S2, W1, W2)

       • Roads (C, E, N, S1, S2, W1, W2)

       • Seaports (C, E, N, S1, S2, W1, W2)

       • Waterways (C, E, N, S1, S2, W1, W2)

     • Mongolia: Airports, Education facilities, Financial services, Health facilities, Railways, Roads, Seaports, Waterways

   • Southeast Asia

     • Cambodia: Airports, Education facilities, Financial services, Health facilities, Railways, Roads, Seaports, Waterways

     • Indonesia:

       • Airports (BT, JI, JK, KA, NU, MA, SL, SM, JB, PB)

       • Education facilities (BT, JI, JK, KA, NU, MA, SL, SM, JB, PB)

       • Financial services (BT, JI, JK, KA, NU, MA, SL, SM, JB, PB)

       • Health facilities (BT, JI, JK, KA, NU, MA, SL, SM, JB, PB)

       • Railways (BT, JI, JK, KA, NU, MA, SL, SM, JB, PB)

       • Roads (BT, JI, JK, KA, NU, MA, SL, SM, JB, PB)

       • Seaports (BT, JI, JK, KA, NU, MA, SL, SM, JB, PB)

       • Waterways (BT, JI, JK, KA, NU, MA, SL, SM, JB, PB)

     • Laos: Airports, Education facilities, Financial services, Health facilities, Railways, Roads, Seaports, Waterways

     • Malaysia: Airports, Education facilities, Financial services, Health facilities, Railways, Roads, Seaports, Waterways

     • Myanmar: Airports, Education facilities, Financial services, Health facilities, Railways, Roads, Seaports, Waterways

     • Philippines: Airports (N, S), Education facilities (N, S), Financial services (N, S), Health facilities (N, S), Railways (N, S), Roads (N, S), Seaports (N, S), Waterways (N, S)

     • Thailand: Roads, Inland waters

     • Vietnam: Airports, Education facilities, Financial services, Health facilities, Railways, Roads, Seaports, Waterways

   • South Asia

     • Bangladesh:

       • Airports (NE, NW, SE, SW, Cox's Bazar)

       • Education facilities (NE, NW, SE, SW, Cox's Bazar)

       • Financial services (NE, NW, SE, SW, Cox's Bazar)

       • Health facilities (NE, NW, SE, SW, Cox's Bazar)

       • Railways (NE, NW, SE, SW, Cox's Bazar)

       • Roads (NE, NW, SE, SW, Cox's Bazar)

       • Seaports (NE, NW, SE, SW, Cox's Bazar)

       • Waterways (NE, NW, SE, SW, Cox's Bazar)

     • India

       • Airports (N, S, E, W, C)

       • Education facilities (N, S, E, W, C)

       • Financial services (N, S, E, W, C)

       • Health facilities (N, S, E, W, C)

       • Railways (N, S, E, W, C)

       • Roads (N, S, E, W, C)

       • Seaports (N, S, E, W, C)

       • Waterways (N, S, E, W, C)

     • Nepal: Airports, Education facilities, Financial services, Health facilities, Railways, Roads, Seaports, Waterways

     • Pakistan: Airports

10. Open Development Mekong: A good source for GIS Data in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Data hosted on the website are from contributing organizations (ex. ADB, IFC, etc.). Since the data are from contributing organizations, please check the additional info section (especially the source and completeness of the data) before use. Examples of interesting datasets include

    • Greater Mekong Subregion

      • Mekong Infrastructure Tracker: Data on power generating projects including name, location, subtype, current status, capacity, year of completion, name, and nationality of sponsor/developer, etc.

      • Mekong Regional Hydropower Dams 2020: Data on hydropower dams including name, location, subtype, current status, capacity, year of completion, name, and nationality of sponsor/developer, etc.

      • Greater Mekong Subregion Rail Links 2012: Data on known, existing, planned and potential rail network links throughout the Greater Mekong Subregion

      • Health Facilities in Mekong Countries 2020: Name and location of health facilities

    • Cambodia

      • Public transportation: Bus stops and routes in Phnom Penh operated by Capital Hall’s City Bus

      • Road and railway networks in Cambodia (2012- 2020): Data on existing and planned road and railway networks extracted from OpenStreetMap

      • Railway lines of Cambodia: Data on existing, under construction, planned/potential railway lines

      • Airports of Cambodia: Locations of international and domestic airports

      • Health centers in 2020: Budget and performance of health centers in the areas under the Implementation of Social Accountability Framework (ISAF)

      • Health facilities in Cambodia (2010): Information on health facilities such as national hospital, health posts, health centers, referral hospitals, and operation districts in Cambodia

      • Primary schools in 2020: Budget and performance of primary schools in the areas under the Implementation of Social Accountability Framework (ISAF)

      • Basic information of school (2012): Data on basic information of schools including name, location, school type, classes, rooms, urban/rural, staff (teacher, non-teacher), and enrollment

      • Hydropower dam (1993-2014): Information on hydropower dams such as name, investor (incl. nationality), and capacity.

      • Electricity generation plants: Data on electricity generation plants including type (hydropower, heavy fuel oil, coal, wood and other biomass), licensee, buyer, and capacity

    • Laos

      • Road Networks in Laos 2021 (OpenStreetMap): primary, secondary, and tertiary level roads in Laos

      • River Networks of Laos: Data on river networks in Laos including name of river, name of basin, name of sub-basin, and Strahler number

      • Higher Education Institutions in Laos: Name and location of higher education institutions

    • Myanmar

      • Yangon Bus Service Public Data: Bus stops and routes in Yangon

      • Higher Education Institutions in Myanmar: Name and location of higher education institutions

      • River Networks of Myanmar: Data on river networks in Myanmar including name of river, name of basin, name of sub-basin, and Strahler number

      • Hydropower Dams in Myanmar 2017: Data on hydropower dams including name, location, capacity (incl. domestic use and export), and year

    • Thailand

      • School Facilities in Thailand 2015: Data on school facilities including name, location, school type, and the responsible government department

      • Health Facilities in Thailand 2020: Data on health facilities including location and the responsible government department

      • Hydropower Dams in Thailand: Name, location, and capacity of hydropower dams

    • Vietnam

      • Hydropower Plants in Vietnam by June 2016: Data on hydropower plants including name, location, status, capacity, investor, and years (construction and operation)

11. Center for Applied GIS of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMGIS) OpenData: The website features both Vietnam and global GIS data. Examples of the datasets are electricity transmission network, existing small hydro projects, electricity substations, seaports, railways/railway stations, soil types, HCMC District 3 roads polygon, HMHC police stations, HCMC District 3 hospitals, BOT toll stations, rivers, and etc.

12. VnGP - Vietnam Gridded Precipitation dataset: A precipitation dataset based on daily-observed data (1980-2010) from 481 rain gauges in Vietnam. The data are available in both the resolution of 0.25° and 10°.

13. Assessing changes in ground subsidence rates, Mekong Delta, Vietnam by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission: The website provides data on estimated average ground subsidence rate in in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.

Micro data:

1. World Bank Microdata Library: The searchable microdata catalog of datasets collected and maintained by the World Bank.

   • Datasets with GPS coordinates: The World Bank has conducted many surveys with GPS coordinates recorded. Unfortunately, in most cases, the coordinates are not included in the datasets available for download. However, there are several datasets with GPS coordinates available.

     • • Ethiopia: Socioeconomic Survey 2018-2019, Socioeconomic Survey 2015-2016, Socioeconomic Survey 2013-2014

       • Haiti: Projet Initiative de Renforcement des Services Scolaires 2012

       • Indonesia: Identifying Combined Effects of Financial Education on Migrant Households in Indonesia 2010-2012, Randomized Experiment

       • Mali: Enquête Agricole de Conjoncture Intégrée aux Conditions de Vie des Ménages 2017, Enquête Agricole de Conjoncture Intégrée 2014

       • Mozambique: Education Outcomes National Panel Survey (NPS) 2002-2008

       • Tanzania: National Panel Survey 2019-2020 - Extended Panel with Sex Disaggregated Data, National Panel Survey Wave 4 - Feed the Future Interim Supplemental Survey 2016, National Panel Survey 2014-2015, Wave 4, National Panel Survey 2014-2015, Wave 4 - Extended Panel, National Panel Survey 2012-2013, Wave 3, National Panel Survey 2010-2011, Wave 2

       • Uganda: National Manpower Survey 2016, Kampala Informal Sector Survey, Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment Programme 2012, Evaluation Baseline Survey

2. The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program: Funded by USAID, conducted more than 400 surveys on population, health, HIV, and nutrition in more than 90 countries. There are four types of surveys i.e. Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Service Provision Assessment (SPA), AIDS Indicator Surveys (AIS), Malaria Indicator Surveys (MIS). For the available datasets, please follow this link. Some datasets also provide GPS coordinates, but the coordinates are displaced randomly by 0-2 km (urban) or o-5 km (rural). The DHS also has its dedicated Spatial Data Repository.
   Access: Application required, Cost: Free

3. IPUMS Terra: IPUMS Terra allows users to integrate different kinds of data to make the data interoperable across time and space. IPUMS Terra focuses on five kinds of data i.e. census and survey microdata, aggregate census and survey data, data derived from remote-sensing, climate data, vector-based geographic information system (GIS) data. Data extracts can be microdata, area-level data, or rasters.
   Access: Application required, Cost: Free