Country comparison
Democratic Republic of the Congo vs Tanzania
Averaged across every city Airleaf has measured in each country — 38 in Democratic Republic of the Congo and 34 in Tanzania — 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.
Democratic Republic of the Congo averages more tree cover — 27.5% against 18.9%.
Tanzania averages cleaner air — AQI 41 against 65.
- Tree cover gap
- 8.6 points
- Democratic Republic of the Congo is ahead.
- Air quality gap
- 24 AQI
- Tanzania is cleaner.
- Cities behind it
- 38 vs 34
- How much each average rests on.
38 cities measured
34 cities measured
Average tree cover
Mean across measured cities, each over the same 2 km radius.
27.5%
18.9%
Average air quality index
US EPA index. Lower is better.
65
41
Cities measured
How much each average rests on.
38
34
Trees standing
Summed across every measured city in each country.
3.1M
1.9M
Cities below their target
Share of measured cities short of the canopy target. Lower is better.
58% (22)
82% (28)
Trees still needed
Summed across measured cities, to reach their canopy targets. Fewer is better.
1.2M
1.6M
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.
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 — 38 in Democratic Republic of the Congo and 34 in Tanzania — 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. Democratic Republic of the Congo rests on 38 cities against 34, so its average is the steadier of the two. Both firm up as coverage grows.
Frequently asked
Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania, answered
Which country has more tree cover, Democratic Republic of the Congo or Tanzania?
Democratic Republic of the Congo, averaging 27.5% across its measured cities against 18.9% — a gap of 8.6 percentage points.
Which has cleaner air, Democratic Republic of the Congo or Tanzania?
Tanzania, averaging AQI 41 against 65 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?
38 measured cities in Democratic Republic of the Congo and 34 in Tanzania. 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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