gisco_get_grid: Grid dataset

In giscoR: Download 'Eurostat' 'GISCO' Spatial Data

Grid dataset

Description

These datasets contain grid cells covering the European land territory at resolutions from 1 km to 100 km. Base statistics such as population figures are provided for these cells.

Usage

gisco_get_grid(
  resolution = c(100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, 1),
  spatialtype = c("REGION", "POINT"),
  cache_dir = NULL,
  update_cache = FALSE,
  verbose = FALSE
)

Arguments

resolution	The grid cell resolution in km. Available values are "1", "2", "5", "10", "20", "50" and "100". See Details.
spatialtype	A character string selecting "REGION" or "POINT".
cache_dir	A character string with a path to a cache directory. See Caching strategies section in gisco_set_cache_dir().
update_cache	A logical value indicating whether to refresh the cached file. Defaults to FALSE. When set to TRUE, it forces a new download.
verbose	A logical value. If TRUE displays informational messages.

Details

Files are distributed in EPSG:3035.

The file sizes range from 428 KB (resolution = 100) to 1.7 GB (resolution = 1).

Value

A sf object.

Source

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/gisco/geodata/grids.

Specific download provisions apply. See https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/gisco/geodata/grids.

Examples

grid <- gisco_get_grid(resolution = 20)

# Proceed if downloaded correctly.

if (!is.null(grid)) {
  library(dplyr)

  grid <- grid |>
    mutate(popdens = TOT_P_2021 / 20)

  breaks <- c(0, 0.1, 100, 500, 1000, 5000, 10000, Inf)

  # Cut groups.
  grid <- grid |>
    mutate(popdens_cut = cut(popdens,
      breaks = breaks,
      include.lowest = TRUE
    ))

  cut_labs <- prettyNum(breaks, big.mark = " ")[-1]
  cut_labs[1] <- "0"
  cut_labs[7] <- "> 10 000"

  pal <- c("black", hcl.colors(length(breaks) - 2,
    palette = "Spectral",
    alpha = 0.9
  ))

  library(ggplot2)

  ggplot(grid) +
    geom_sf(aes(fill = popdens_cut), color = NA, linewidth = 0) +
    coord_sf(
      xlim = c(2500000, 7000000),
      ylim = c(1500000, 5200000)
    ) +
    scale_fill_manual(
      values = pal, na.value = "black",
      name = "people per square kilometer",
      labels = cut_labs,
      guide = guide_legend(
        direction = "horizontal",
        nrow = 1
      )
    ) +
    theme_void() +
    labs(
      title = "Population density in Europe (2021)",
      subtitle = "Grid: 20 km.",
      caption = gisco_attributions()
    ) +
    theme(
      text = element_text(colour = "white"),
      plot.background = element_rect(fill = "grey2"),
      plot.title = element_text(hjust = 0.5),
      plot.subtitle = element_text(hjust = 0.5, face = "bold"),
      plot.caption = element_text(
        color = "grey60", hjust = 0.5, vjust = 0,
        margin = margin(t = 5, b = 10)
      ),
      legend.position = "bottom",
      legend.title.position = "top",
      legend.text.position = "bottom",
      legend.key.height = unit(0.5, "lines"),
      legend.key.width = unit(1, "lines")
    )
}

giscoR documentation built on June 17, 2026, 9:10 a.m.