Countries by protected land

Countries by protected land, World Bank, 2025

#	Country	% of land	Region
1	Seychelles	68.1%	Eastern Africa
2	Venezuela	56.8%	South America
3	Bhutan	51.6%	Southern Asia
4	Liechtenstein	44.8%	Western Europe
5	Bulgaria	44.3%	Eastern Europe
6	Guinea	42.6%	Western Africa
7	Zambia	41.3%	Eastern Africa
8	Slovenia	40.4%	Southern Europe
=9	Brunei	39.9%	South-Eastern Asia
=9	Namibia	39.9%	Southern Africa
=9	Tanzania	39.9%	Eastern Africa
12	Cambodia	39.8%	South-Eastern Asia
13	Poland	39.6%	Eastern Europe
14	Germany	39.2%	Western Europe
15	Luxembourg	39.1%	Western Europe
16	Armenia	38.9%	Western Asia
17	Cyprus	38.6%	Western Asia
18	Croatia	38.4%	Southern Europe
19	Slovakia	37.5%	Eastern Europe
20	Belize	37.3%	Central America
21	Congo	36.6%	Middle Africa
22	Benin	36.1%	Western Africa
23	Greece	35.0%	Southern Europe
24	Bahamas	34.6%	Caribbean
25	Comoros	33.7%	Eastern Africa
26	New Zealand	33.4%	Australia and New Zealand
27	São Tomé and Principe	31.7%	Middle Africa
=28	Palau	31.4%	Micronesia
=28	Panama	31.4%	Central America
30	Bolivia	30.9%	South America
31	Sri Lanka	30.8%	Southern Asia
=32	Brazil	30.6%	South America
=32	Trinidad and Tobago	30.6%	Caribbean
34	Japan	29.7%	Eastern Asia
35	Austria	29.6%	Western Europe
36	Mozambique	29.5%	Eastern Africa
=37	Malta	29.0%	Southern Europe
=37	North Macedonia	29.0%	Southern Europe
39	Oman	28.9%	Western Asia
40	France	28.8%	Western Europe
41	United Kingdom	28.4%	Northern Europe
42	Zimbabwe	28.3%	Eastern Africa
43	Spain	28.1%	Southern Europe
44	Togo	27.9%	Western Africa
=45	Botswana	27.6%	Southern Africa
=45	Israel	27.6%	Western Asia
47	Senegal	27.5%	Western Africa
48	Andorra	27.3%	Southern Europe
49	Costa Rica	26.6%	Central America
50	Dominican Republic	26.3%	Caribbean
51	Guinea-Bissau	26.2%	Western Africa
52	Romania	24.6%	Eastern Europe
53	Ecuador	23.8%	South America
=54	Albania	23.6%	Southern Europe
=54	Nepal	23.6%	Southern Asia
56	Lesotho	23.4%	Southern Africa
57	Malawi	23.1%	Eastern Africa
=58	Honduras	23.0%	Central America
=58	Portugal	23.0%	Southern Europe
=60	Côte d'Ivoire	22.9%	Western Africa
=60	Kiribati	22.9%	Micronesia
=60	Netherlands	22.9%	Western Europe
63	Georgia	22.8%	Western Asia
=64	Gabon	22.6%	Middle Africa
=64	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	22.6%	Caribbean
=64	Tajikistan	22.6%	Central Asia
67	Hungary	22.3%	Eastern Europe
68	Montenegro	22.2%	Southern Europe
=69	Azerbaijan	22.1%	Western Asia
=69	Peru	22.1%	South America
71	Australia	22.0%	Australia and New Zealand
72	Czechia	21.9%	Eastern Europe
=73	Chile	21.6%	South America
=73	Estonia	21.6%	Northern Europe
75	Italy	21.5%	Southern Europe
76	Dominica	21.4%	Caribbean
77	Nicaragua	21.2%	Central America
=78	Chad	21.0%	Middle Africa
=78	Niger	21.0%	Western Africa
=80	Iceland	20.9%	Northern Europe
=80	Monaco	20.9%	Western Europe
82	Guatemala	20.1%	Central America
83	Jamaica	19.9%	Caribbean
84	Mongolia	19.8%	Eastern Asia
85	United Arab Emirates	19.2%	Western Asia
86	Pakistan	19.1%	Southern Asia
87	Equatorial Guinea	19.0%	Middle Africa
=88	Laos	18.8%	South-Eastern Asia
=88	Latvia	18.8%	Northern Europe
90	Saudi Arabia	18.5%	Western Asia
91	Thailand	18.4%	South-Eastern Asia
92	Saint Lucia	18.2%	Caribbean
93	Lithuania	18.0%	Northern Europe
94	Norway	17.8%	Northern Europe
95	South Korea	17.7%	Eastern Asia
96	Cabo Verde	17.6%	Western Africa
97	Colombia	17.2%	South America
=98	Kuwait	17.1%	Western Asia
=98	Ukraine	17.1%	Eastern Europe
100	Ethiopia	17.0%	Eastern Africa
101	Saint Kitts and Nevis	16.9%	Caribbean
102	Burkina Faso	16.8%	Western Africa
103	Antigua and Barbuda	16.5%	Caribbean
=104	Belgium	16.4%	Western Europe
=104	Denmark	16.4%	Northern Europe
=106	Marshall Islands	16.1%	Micronesia
=106	Timor-Leste	16.1%	South-Eastern Asia
=106	Uganda	16.1%	Eastern Africa
109	Philippines	16.0%	South-Eastern Asia
110	Sweden	15.8%	Northern Europe
=111	China	15.6%	Eastern Asia
=111	Cuba	15.6%	Caribbean
=111	Qatar	15.6%	Western Asia
114	South Sudan	15.4%	Eastern Africa
=115	Ghana	15.3%	Western Africa
=115	Mexico	15.3%	Central America
=117	DR Congo	14.9%	Middle Africa
=117	Paraguay	14.9%	South America
=119	Central African Republic	14.8%	Middle Africa
=119	Suriname	14.8%	South America
121	Ireland	14.2%	Northern Europe
122	Uzbekistan	14.1%	Central Asia
123	Serbia	14.0%	Southern Europe
=124	Finland	13.9%	Northern Europe
=124	Kenya	13.9%	Eastern Africa
=124	Nigeria	13.9%	Western Africa
=127	Malaysia	13.3%	South-Eastern Asia
=127	Tonga	13.3%	Polynesia
129	Egypt	13.1%	Northern Africa
130	Lebanon	13.0%	Western Asia
=131	Canada	12.9%	Northern America
=131	United States	12.9%	Northern America
133	Madagascar	12.8%	Eastern Africa
134	Sierra Leone	12.6%	Western Africa
135	Switzerland	12.5%	Western Europe
136	Indonesia	12.0%	South-Eastern Asia
137	Bahrain	11.7%	Western Asia
=138	Moldova	11.5%	Eastern Europe
=138	Russia	11.5%	Eastern Europe
140	Cameroon	11.0%	Middle Africa
141	Angola	10.8%	Middle Africa
142	Kazakhstan	10.1%	Central Asia
143	South Africa	9.6%	Southern Africa
144	Bosnia and Herzegovina	9.5%	Southern Europe
145	Belarus	9.2%	Eastern Europe
146	Rwanda	9.1%	Eastern Africa
=147	Argentina	8.8%	South America
=147	Grenada	8.8%	Caribbean
149	Haiti	8.6%	Caribbean
150	Guyana	8.4%	South America
151	El Salvador	8.3%	Central America
=152	Samoa	7.9%	Polynesia
=152	Tunisia	7.9%	Northern Africa
154	Iran	7.8%	Southern Asia
=155	Gambia	7.7%	Western Africa
=155	India	7.7%	Southern Asia
=157	Burundi	7.6%	Eastern Africa
=157	Vietnam	7.6%	South-Eastern Asia
159	Mali	7.5%	Western Africa
160	Turkey	7.0%	Western Asia
161	Kyrgyzstan	6.8%	Central Asia
162	Myanmar	6.7%	South-Eastern Asia
163	Jordan	5.4%	Western Asia
164	Mauritius	5.0%	Eastern Africa
165	Vanuatu	4.8%	Melanesia
166	Algeria	4.7%	Northern Africa
167	Singapore	4.6%	South-Eastern Asia
168	Turkmenistan	4.3%	Central Asia
=169	Bangladesh	4.2%	Southern Asia
=169	Eswatini	4.2%	Southern Africa
171	Liberia	4.0%	Western Africa
172	Fiji	3.9%	Melanesia
173	Papua New Guinea	3.7%	Melanesia
174	Afghanistan	3.6%	Southern Asia
175	Uruguay	3.1%	South America
176	Maldives	3.0%	Southern Asia
177	Sudan	2.8%	Northern Africa
=178	North Korea	2.4%	Eastern Asia
=178	Solomon Islands	2.4%	Melanesia
180	Morocco	2.1%	Northern Africa
181	Djibouti	1.6%	Eastern Africa
182	Iraq	1.5%	Western Asia
=183	Barbados	1.1%	Caribbean
=183	Yemen	1.1%	Western Asia
185	Syria	0.7%	Western Asia
186	Mauritania	0.6%	Western Africa
187	Libya	0.1%	Northern Africa
=188	Eritrea	0.0%	Eastern Africa
=188	Micronesia	0.0%	Micronesia
=188	Nauru	0.0%	Micronesia
=188	Somalia	0.0%	Eastern Africa

No World Bank figure for 3 countries: San Marino, Taiwan, Vatican City.

Territories and other places

Not ranked: dependencies of the states above, places whose status is disputed, and Antarctica. Highest first.

Place	% of land	Status
New Caledonia	59.6%	Territory of France
Turks and Caicos Islands	43.5%	Territory of United Kingdom
Hong Kong	42.0%	Territory of China
Greenland	41.9%	Territory of Denmark
Aruba	26.9%	Territory of Netherlands
Curaçao	16.5%	Territory of Netherlands
American Samoa	16.4%	Territory of United States of America
US Virgin Islands	13.3%	Territory of United States of America
British Virgin Islands	10.5%	Territory of United Kingdom
Palestine	10.0%	Status disputed
Saint Martin	9.3%	Territory of France
Cayman Islands	8.8%	Territory of United Kingdom
Puerto Rico	6.6%	Territory of United States of America
French Polynesia	5.6%	Territory of France
Isle of Man	4.6%	Territory of United Kingdom
Guam	4.2%	Territory of United States of America
Northern Mariana Islands	2.8%	Territory of United States of America
Faroe Islands	2.4%	Territory of Denmark
Bermuda	2.3%	Territory of United Kingdom
Sint Maarten	0.1%	Territory of Netherlands

Questions

Which country has the most protected land?

The Seychelles has the most protected land: 68.1% of the land protected (2025). Next come Venezuela (56.8% of the land protected) and Bhutan (51.6% of the land protected).

Which country has the least protected land?

Somalia, with 0.0% of the land protected (2025).

What is the typical protected land of a country?

The median of the 191 countries is 17.6% of the land protected: half are above it, half below. The median, not the average, because a few countries at the top would drag an average far above almost everyone.

Where do the figures come from?

The share of the land in national parks, nature reserves and other protected areas. Source: World Bank, 2025. Only independent states are ranked; territories are listed separately.

Source: World Bank (CC BY 4.0). Figures more than 5 years older than the newest are left out rather than shown beside current ones. Countries sharing a value share a rank. All sources.