Country comparison
Chile vs South Korea
Averaged across every city Airleaf has measured in each country — 31 in Chile and 56 in South Korea — each read the same way: Sentinel-2 imagery at 10 m detail over a 2 km radius, and the live US EPA air quality index.
South Korea averages more tree cover — 41.8% against 22.8%.
Chile averages cleaner air — AQI 43 against 58.
- Tree cover gap
- 19.0 points
- South Korea is ahead.
- Air quality gap
- 15 AQI
- Chile is cleaner.
- Cities behind it
- 31 vs 56
- How much each average rests on.
31 cities measured
56 cities measured
Average tree cover
Mean across measured cities, each over the same 2 km radius.
22.8%
41.8%
Average air quality index
US EPA index. Lower is better.
43
58
Cities measured
How much each average rests on.
31
56
Trees standing
Summed across every measured city in each country.
2.1M
7.1M
Cities below their target
Share of measured cities short of the canopy target. Lower is better.
68% (21)
30% (17)
Trees still needed
Summed across measured cities, to reach their canopy targets. Fewer is better.
999K
384K
Behind the averages
The extremes in each country
An average says nothing about how far apart the best and worst places are. These are the measured cities at each end.
Chile
- Greenest measured city
- Villa Mercedes80.4% tree cover
- Worst air right now
- Puente AltoAQI 82
Reading these numbers
What a country average is, and is not
It is a mean of cities
Not a national statistic. Each figure is the average across the cities Airleaf has measured in that country — 31 in Chile and 56 in South Korea — each read over the same 2 km radius. Rural land, forest and everywhere unmeasured are not in it, so this compares urban areas rather than territories.
Coverage shapes the number
A country measured mostly in its capital reads differently from one measured across dozens of towns. South Korea rests on 56 cities against 31, so its average is the steadier of the two. Both firm up as coverage grows.
Frequently asked
Chile and South Korea, answered
Which country has more tree cover, Chile or South Korea?
South Korea, averaging 41.8% across its measured cities against 22.8% — a gap of 19.0 percentage points.
Which has cleaner air, Chile or South Korea?
Chile, averaging AQI 43 against 58 on the US EPA index. These are live readings averaged across cities, so the gap moves with the weather.
How many cities is each figure based on?
31 measured cities in Chile and 56 in South Korea. Every one was read the same way, so the two averages are directly comparable — but a country with more measured cities has the more settled figure.
Is this the whole country?
No. It is the cities Airleaf has measured, each over a 2 km radius from its centre. Forest, farmland and unmeasured towns are not included, so treat this as a comparison of urban tree cover and urban air rather than of national land cover.
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