Protected Areas of the world

Below is a list of countries worldwide and the total area of land protected in each country. This data is based on the criteria of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), which was produced on behalf of the UNO. The 'protected areas' are referred to as such according to Criteria I and II of the IUCN. In the 'Total Number of Protected Areas' all protected natural areas of a country are included, even if they don't meet ICUN Criteria I and II.

Searching for a particular country? Just click on the first letter of the country you are interested in:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Country	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
Country	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
A
Afghanistan	652,225	0.07	425	17
Albania	28,748	4.54	1,304	80
Algeria	2,381,741	4.97	118,276	53
Andorra	468	0.00	0	2
Angola	1,246,700	4.18	52,091	15
Antigua and Barbuda	442	16.74	74	28
Argentina	2,780,400	1.39	38,579	307
Armenia	29,800	7.05	2,101	10
Australia	7,692,030	4.44	341,857	8,335
Austria	83,871	1.11	933	1,086
Azerbaijan	86,600	2.00	1,729	41
B	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
B	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Bahrain	711	0.14	1	4
Bangladesh	147,570	0.00	0	38
Barbados	430	0.47	2	13
Belarus	207,595	2.52	5,224	440
Belgium	32,545	0.00	0	502
Belize	22,965	8.93	2,050	108
Benin	112,622	7.69	8,664	52
Bhutan	46,500	18.43	8,571	9
Bolivia	1,098,581	7.90	86,824	63
Bosnia and Herzegovina	51,129	0.14	71	34
Botswana	581,730	7.58	44,091	79
Brazil	8,547,404	5.85	500,152	1,447
Brunei	5,765	25.60	1,476	56
Bulgaria	110,994	2.46	2,726	905
Burkina Faso	274,200	1.77	4,858	77
Burundi	27,834	0.00	0	15
C	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
C	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Cambodia	181,035	4.38	7,936	30
Cameroon	475,442	0.01	25	54
Canada	9,984,670	0.25	24,687	5,330
Cape Verde	4,036	0.00	0	3
Central African Republic	622,984	5.36	33,422	32
Chad	1,284,000	0.32	4,106	13
Chile	756,096	10.93	82,670	212
China	9,572,419	0.00	0	1,976
Colombia	1,141,748	7.42	84,770	269
Comoros	1,862	21.70	404	1
Congo	2,344,885	4.76	111,596	74
Congo-Brazzaville	342,000	6.76	23,125	14
Costa Rica	51,100	14.32	7,315	183
Côte d’Ivoire	322,462	0.34	1,111	240
Croatia	56,542	0.00	1	178
Cuba	110,860	10.14	11,243	259
Cyprus	9,251	2.11	195	42
Czech Republic	78,866	1.09	856	1,755
D	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
D	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Denmark	43,096	0.88	381	401
Djibouti	23,200	0.01	2	3
Dominica	751	14.51	109	10
Dominican Republic	48,422	20.12	9,742	69
E	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
E	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Ecuador	256,370	11.18	28,667	105
Egypt	1,002,000	3.12	31,305	27
El Salvador	21,041	0.26	54	95
Equatorial Guinea	28,051	12.43	3,488	13
Eritrea	121,144	0.00	0	4
Estonia	45,227	4.10	1,853	9,617
Ethiopia	1,133,380	3.04	34,429	100
F	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
F	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Fiji	18,376	1.20	221	44
Finland	338,144	3.72	12,583	6,046
France	543,965	0.48	2,624	1,554
G	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
G	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Gabon	267,667	0.00	0	22
Gambia	11,295	0.26	29	7
Georgia	69,700	3.24	2,258	34
Germany	357,023	2.70	9,638	14,389
Ghana	238,537	4.49	10,710	313
Greece	131,957	3.03	4,001	110
Grenada	345	0.00	0	31
Guatemala	108,889	6.45	7,028	163
Guinea	245,857	0.00	0	1
Guinea-Bissau	36,125	0.00	0	31
Guyana	214,969	0.00	0	1
H	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
H	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Haiti	27,750	0.18	50	8
Honduras	112,492	5.86	6,590	102
Hungary	93,030	1.77	1,650	133
I	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
I	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Iceland	103,000	1.84	1,893	79
India	3,287,263	1.17	38,423	639
Indonesia	1,912,988	7.92	151,555	706
Iran	1,648,000	0.94	15,540	150
Iraq	438,317	0.00	0	6
Ireland	70,273	0.73	513	85
Israel	20,991	0.15	32	225
Italy	301,336	1.80	5,413	495
J	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
J	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Jamaica	10,991	0.00	0	86
Japan	377,837	5.86	22,140	279
Jordan	89,342	0.00	0	22
K	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
K	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Kazakhstan	2,717,300	0.54	14,723	97
Kenya	580,367	5.76	33,457	329
Kiribati	811	0.12	1	15
Kuwait	17,818	0.00	0	19
Kyrgyzstan	199,900	4.69	9,380	29
L	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
L	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Laos	236,800	0.00	0	31
Latvia	64,589	3.66	2,365	540
Lebanon	10,452	0.33	35	15
Lesotho	30,355	0.00	0	2
Liberia	97,754	0.99	967	22
Libya	1,775,500	0.00	0	24
Liechtenstein	160	0.00	0	10
Lithuania	65,301	1.64	1,068	250
Luxembourg	2,586	0.00	0	186
M	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
M	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Macedonia	25,713	2.99	768	61
Madagascar	587,041	1.83	10,761	78
Malawi	118,484	5.20	6,159	128
Malaysia	329,733	4.60	15,181	733
Maldives	298	0.00	0	25
Mali	1,240,192	0.32	3,957	14
Malta	316	0.00	0	91
Marshall Islands	181	30.94	56	3
Mauritania	1,030,700	1.17	12,064	2
Mauritius	2,040	2.75	56	28
Mexico	1,953,162	0.00	21	187
Micronesia	700	0.00	0	22
Moldova	33,800	0.57	194	63
Monaco	2	0.00	0	3
Mongolia	1,564,116	12.05	188,477	51
Morocco	458,730	0.01	31	54
Mozambique	799,380	3.20	25,594	47
Myanmar	676,552	1.66	11,210	55
N	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
N	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Namibia	824,292	12.23	100,842	37
Nauru	21	0.00	0	0
Nepal	147,181	7.09	10,440	26
Netherlands	41,526	3.01	1,249	1,949
New Zealand	270,534	12.44	33,657	3,946
Nicaragua	120,254	3.76	4,522	93
Niger	1,267,000	1.19	15,031	9
Nigeria	923,768	2.53	23,403	989
North Korea	122,762	1.22	1,501	31
Norway	323,759	4.69	15,191	1,795
O	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
O	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Oman	309,500	10.67	33,016	6
P	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
P	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Pakistan	796,095	0.00	9	160
Palau	508	42.13	214	16
Panama	75,517	13.45	10,157	87
Papua New Guinea	462,840	0.00	0	52
Paraguay	406,752	3.39	13,797	39
Peru	1,285,216	2.83	36,343	64
Philippines	300,000	3.14	9,414	379
Poland	312,685	0.54	1,697	1,605
Portugal	92,345	1.01	934	59
Q	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
Q	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Qatar	11,437	0.00	0	4
R	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
R	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Romania	238,391	1.69	4,017	925
Russia	17,075,400	1.45	247,484	11,263
Rwanda	26,338	4.60	1,211	10
S	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
S	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Saint Kitts and Nevis	269	0.00	0	20
Saint Lucia	616	0.00	0	80
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	389	0.00	0	40
Samoa	2,831	2.61	74	18
San Marino	61	0.00	0	0
São Tomé e Príncipe	1,001	0.00	0	3
Saudi Arabia	2,240,000	0.75	16,843	128
Senegal	196,722	4.68	9,198	113
Serbia and Montenegro	91,286	0.00	0	75
Seychelles	454	99.56	452	20
Sierra Leone	71,740	1.84	1,319	58
Singapore	683	4.39	30	7
Slovakia	49,034	5.22	2,562	1,126
Slovenia	20,253	4.14	838	33
Solomon Islands	27,556	0.04	11	9
Somalia	637,657	0.00	0	25
South Africa	1,219,080	1.92	23,389	953
South Korea	99,313	2.82	2,801	34
Spain	504,782	0.32	1,608	605
Sri Lanka	65,610	10.39	6,815	426
Sudan	2,505,813	3.08	77,209	40
Suriname	163,265	7.24	11,814	23
Swaziland	17,363	0.00	0	7
Sweden	449,964	8.95	40,269	4,625
Switzerland	41,285	0.41	169	2,143
Syria	185,180	0.00	0	17
T	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
T	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Taiwan	36,006	8.08	2,908	42
Tajikistan	143,100	2.89	4,133	18
Tanzania	945,087	4.41	41,679	566
Thailand	513,115	13.90	71,339	205
The Bahamas	13,939	10.19	1,421	43
Timor-Leste	14,609	0.00	0	6
Togo	56,785	5.99	3,401	94
Tonga	748	8.96	67	16
Trinidad and Tobago	5,128	2.50	128	87
Tunisia	163,610	0.19	310	59
Turkey	779,452	0.48	3,720	259
Turkmenistan	488,100	2.26	11,050	30
Tuvalu	26	0.00	0	1
U	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
U	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Uganda	241,548	4.69	11,329	48
Ukraine	603,700	1.33	8,046	5,198
United Arab Emirates	77,700	0.29	226	15
United Kingdom	242,910	0.00	0	7,801
United States	9,809,155	8.74	856,958	10,479
Uruguay	176,215	0.00	0	34
Uzbekistan	447,400	2.00	8,957	15
V	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
V	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Vanuatu	12,190	0.00	0	34
Venezuela	912,050	13.63	124,310	243
Vietnam	331,114	1.39	4,619	146
W	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
W	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Western Sahara	252,120	0.00	0	1
Y	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
Y	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Yemen	536,869	0.00	0	6
Z	Area	Protected Area		Number of Protected Areas
Z	in km²	in %	in km²	Number of Protected Areas
Zambia	752,614	8.30	62,499	626
Zimbabwe	390,757	6.92	27,022	240

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Data source and IUCN criteria:

Most of the data come from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The following three criteria form the basis for this list:

Criteria Ia

Untouched nature, or rather a protected wilderness area: a large partof the land and/or the sea, with prominent or representative ecosystems, boasts geological or landscape features and/or accomodates rare or rather unique species. Primarily for scientific research and or environmental observation.

Criteria Ib

Large area of unmodified or slightly modified land and/or sea, retaining ist natural characteristics and influence, without permanent or significant habitation, which is protected and managed to preserve its natural condition.

Criteria II

Natural area of land and/or sea designated to (a) protect the ecological integrity of one or more ecosystems for present and future generations, (b) exclude exploitation or occupation inimical to the purposes of designation of the area and (c) provide a foundation for spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor opportunities, all of which must be environmentally and culturally compatible.