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Figure

This chapter presents data for Northern America. Urban and rural water supply and sanitation coverage figures are shown by country, area or territory for both 1990 and 2000. Changes in coverage over time and projected changes in population are also briefly discussed.

11.1 Overview

Data representing 99.9% of the Northern American population suggest that 99.9% of the population in the region has coverage for both water supply and sanitation, the highest reported for any world region.

According to the results of the Assessment 2000, there is a negligible proportion of the global population without access to improved water supply and sanitation services in the Northern American region.

The region is comprised of only five areas: Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and the United States of America. More than three out of four people in the region live in urban areas. Urban coverage of water and sanitation are both reported to be 100% of the population. Nevertheless, approximately 71 000 people in rural areas do not have access to either improved water supply or sanitation.

11.2 Water supply and sanitation coverage

Table 11.1 provides data for 1990 and 2000, by country, area or territory.

Coverage data are available for only two of the five areas in the region, Canada and the United States of America. Coverage is high for water supply and sanitation in these two countries, with only the rural areas of Canada reporting less than 100% coverage.

No map has been provided for Northern America, as data are only available for two countries. The data available for Canada and the United States of America suggest that coverage is very high and has remained so over the 1990s. Population projections for the region suggest that the urban population will continue to grow, while the rural population will decline. In terms of meeting sector targets, an additional 39 million people will need access to both urban water supply and sanitation by 2015, mainly because of population growth.

TABLE 11.1 NORTHERN AMERICA: WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION COVERAGE BY COUNTRY, AREA OR TERRITORY, 1990 AND 2000

	Year	Total population1 (thousands)	Urban population (thousands)	Rural population (thousands)	% urban water supply coverage	% rural water supply coverage	% total water supply coverage	% urban sanitation coverage	% rural sanitation coverage	% total sanitation coverage
Bermuda	1990	59	59	0
	2000	65	65	0
Canada	1990	27 791	21 283	6 508	100	99	100	100	99	100
	2000	31 146	24 017	7 129	100	99	100	100	99	100
Greenland	1990	55	44	11
	2000	56	46	10
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	1990	7	6	1
	2000	7	6	1
United States of America	1990	254 076	191 159	62 917	100	100	100	100	100	100
	2000	278 357	214 915	63 442	100	100	100	100	100	100

¹ Source: (10)