The database consists of three datasets which have been compiled in dBase IV format. The datasets are described below:

GlPop90.dbf: Gridded global population distributions for 1990 with 1X1 latitude/longitude resolution

Fields:

- UNCode2	United Nations standard ISO Country Codes
- Country	Country/region name
- Grid	Grid code number
- Pop1990	Total population contained in each grid cell for each country
- Rate(%):	The ratio of the population in the cell to total population of country, not the annual growth.
Total population:	5,291,059,610
Number of Records:	12,857
Number of Cells:	11,783
Total Number of Countries:	209

GridCtry.dbf: The relationship between grid cells and countries (see ref. 1)

Fields:

- Grid	Grid code number
- Cover-Id	Cover ID Number
"0":	All covered by sea
"1":	Entirely contained in one country
"2":	Shared by two countries
"2":	Shared by two countries
"3":	Shared by three countries
"4":	Shared by four countries
"10":	Shared by one country and ocean
"20":	Shared by two countries and ocean
"30":	Shared by three countries and ocean
"40":	Shared by four countries and ocean
- UNCode2	United Nations standard ISO country codes
- Country	Country/region name
- Rate-in-Country (%)	Percentage of the area of a country contained in each grid cell
- Rate-in-Grid (%)	Percentage of the area of the grid cell occupied by country or the ocean
Number of Records	25,540
Number of Cells:	12,200
Total Number of Countries:	217

PopFact.dbf: Rural population distribution factor for 1990 with 1X1 latitude/longitude resolution

Fields:

- Grid	Grid code number
- UNCode2	United Nations standard ISO country codes
- PopFactor	Rural population distribution factor in grid cell
Number of Records:	13,227
Number of Cells:	12,196
Number of Countries:	210

Grid Code Number = (j*1000) + i

j: row number starting at 1 for 90°S to 89°S latitude, to 180 for 89°N to 90°N latitude

i: column number starting at 1 for 180°W to 179°W longitude, to 360 for 179°E to 180°E longitude

The latitude and longitude of the centre of the grid cell is given by:
latitude = (j-91) + 0.5
longitude = (i-181) + 0.5