Which country in North America has the most protected land?

Belize has the most protected land in North America: 37.3% of the land protected (2025). Next come the Bahamas (34.6% of the land protected) and Panama (31.4% of the land protected).

Which country in North America has the least protected land?

Barbados, with 1.1% of the land protected (2025).

What is the typical protected land of a country in North America?

The median of the 23 countries in North America is 19.9% 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. A country’s continent follows Natural Earth; the handful of island states it files under the open ocean are placed by their UN subregion.

Countries in North America by protected land

The share of the land in national parks, nature reserves and other protected areas. 23 countries in North America, highest first. World Bank, 2025

See it on the map

Map: Protected land — North America — **4.6%10%15%19%23%32%**No data

Highest

37.3%

Belize

Median country

19.9%

half above, half below

Lowest

1.1%

Barbados

Countries in North America by protected land, World Bank, 2025
#	Country	% of land	Region
1	Belize	37.3%	Central America
2	Bahamas	34.6%	Caribbean
3	Panama	31.4%	Central America
4	Trinidad and Tobago	30.6%	Caribbean
5	Costa Rica	26.6%	Central America
6	Dominican Republic	26.3%	Caribbean
7	Honduras	23.0%	Central America
8	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	22.6%	Caribbean
9	Dominica	21.4%	Caribbean
10	Nicaragua	21.2%	Central America
11	Guatemala	20.1%	Central America
12	Jamaica	19.9%	Caribbean
13	Saint Lucia	18.2%	Caribbean
14	Saint Kitts and Nevis	16.9%	Caribbean
15	Antigua and Barbuda	16.5%	Caribbean
16	Cuba	15.6%	Caribbean
17	Mexico	15.3%	Central America
=18	Canada	12.9%	Northern America
=18	United States	12.9%	Northern America
20	Grenada	8.8%	Caribbean
21	Haiti	8.6%	Caribbean
22	El Salvador	8.3%	Central America
23	Barbados	1.1%	Caribbean

Territories and other places

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

Place	% of land	Status
Turks and Caicos Islands	43.5%	Territory of United Kingdom
Greenland	41.9%	Territory of Denmark
Aruba	26.9%	Territory of Netherlands
Curaçao	16.5%	Territory of Netherlands
US Virgin Islands	13.3%	Territory of United States of America
British Virgin Islands	10.5%	Territory of United Kingdom
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
Bermuda	2.3%	Territory of United Kingdom
Sint Maarten	0.1%	Territory of Netherlands

Questions

Which country in North America has the most protected land?: Belize has the most protected land in North America: 37.3% of the land protected (2025). Next come the Bahamas (34.6% of the land protected) and Panama (31.4% of the land protected).
Which country in North America has the least protected land?: Barbados, with 1.1% of the land protected (2025).
What is the typical protected land of a country in North America?: The median of the 23 countries in North America is 19.9% 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. A country’s continent follows Natural Earth; the handful of island states it files under the open ocean are placed by their UN subregion.

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.