Inland water bodies — Area from MODIS by country

The FAOSTAT domain on Land Cover data under the Agri-Environmental Indicators section contains land cover information organized by the land cover classes of the international standard system for Environmental and Economic Accounting Central Framework (SEEA CF). The land cover information is compiled from publicly...

Countries reporting
238
Highest
60,248 1000 ha
Canada
Lowest
0.06 1000 ha
Lesotho
Median
78.8 1000 ha
Years covered
24
2001–2024
Data points
6,390

What the numbers show

Inland water bodies — Area from MODIS is currently reported for 238 countries. The highest value is 60,248 1000 ha in Canada; the lowest is 0.06 1000 ha in Lesotho.

The median across all reporting countries is 78.8 1000 ha, and the mean is 1,255 1000 ha.

Over the past decade 104 countries rose and 84 fell. The largest increase was in Niger (up 1,820.8%), and the largest decrease in Morocco (down 16.0%).

Inland water bodies — Area from MODIS: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Canada 60,248 1000 ha 2024 down 1.2% flat
2 Russian Federation 42,293 1000 ha 2024 up 0.3% flat
2 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 6,034 1000 ha 2024 up 0.6% flat
3 Antarctica 37,923 1000 ha 2024 down 0.0% flat
3 United Republic of Tanzania 5,831 1000 ha 2024 up 5.9% flat
4 Kazakhstan 17,833 1000 ha 2024 up 1.0% flat
5 Brazil 9,006 1000 ha 2024 up 1.0% flat
5 Democratic Republic of the Congo 2,925 1000 ha 2024 up 1.6% flat
6 China 8,896 1000 ha 2024 up 4.1% rising
6 Melanesia 1,440 1000 ha 2024 up 0.1% flat
7 Turkmenistan 8,865 1000 ha 2024 down 0.0% flat
7 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 1,077 1000 ha 2024 up 2.1% rising
8 China, mainland 8,813 1000 ha 2024 up 4.2% rising
8 Türkiye 964.19 1000 ha 2024 down 3.1% flat
9 Azerbaijan 7,942 1000 ha 2024 up 0.1% flat
9 Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 696.63 1000 ha 2024 down 9.3% falling
10 Greenland 6,079 1000 ha 2024 down 2.5% flat
10 Viet Nam 464.4 1000 ha 2024 up 1.6% flat
11 Australia and New Zealand 4,201 1000 ha 2024 up 6.2% flat
11 Polynesia 279.13 1000 ha 2024 down 0.8% flat
12 Indonesia 4,032 1000 ha 2024 up 0.4% flat
12 Micronesia 240.85 1000 ha 2024 down 0.2% flat
13 Uganda 3,456 1000 ha 2024 up 1.2% flat
13 Democratic People's Republic of Korea 149.14 1000 ha 2024 up 0.7% flat
14 Australia 3,411 1000 ha 2024 up 7.5% flat
14 Lao People's Democratic Republic 83.44 1000 ha 2024 up 5.8% rising
15 Argentina 3,137 1000 ha 2024 down 1.1% falling
15 Syrian Arab Republic 78.86 1000 ha 2024 down 1.0% falling
16 Chile 3,036 1000 ha 2024 up 1.7% flat
16 Micronesia (Federated States of) 20.82 1000 ha 2024 down 0.2% flat
17 Malawi 2,369 1000 ha 2024 up 1.1% flat
17 Republic of Moldova 16.79 1000 ha 2024 down 0.5% flat
18 Sweden 2,333 1000 ha 2024 up 0.1% flat
18 Timor-Leste 15.69 1000 ha 2024 down 8.1% flat
19 India 2,276 1000 ha 2024 up 11.1% rising
19 Wallis and Futuna Islands 9.07 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
20 Mexico 2,182 1000 ha 2024 down 2.1% flat
21 Finland 2,130 1000 ha 2024 up 0.0% flat
22 Norway 1,989 1000 ha 2024 up 0.3% flat
22 Caribbean 1,082 1000 ha 2024 up 0.5% rising
23 Uzbekistan 1,980 1000 ha 2024 down 0.8% flat
24 Mozambique 1,268 1000 ha 2024 down 0.1% flat
25 Mongolia 1,163 1000 ha 2024 down 1.0% flat
25 Côte d'Ivoire 167.6 1000 ha 2024 up 1.1% flat
26 Kenya 1,151 1000 ha 2024 up 4.1% flat
26 Cabo Verde 20.86 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
27 Nicaragua 1,051 1000 ha 2022 down 0.0% flat
28 Japan 1,016 1000 ha 2024 up 0.0% flat
29 Zambia 982.85 1000 ha 2024 down 2.2% falling
30 Ukraine 979.76 1000 ha 2024 down 0.1% flat
31 Philippines 978.7 1000 ha 2024 up 0.1% flat
32 Colombia 872.18 1000 ha 2024 up 0.7% flat
33 Peru 858.87 1000 ha 2024 down 1.3% flat
34 Ethiopia 813.94 1000 ha 2024 up 17.1% rising
35 Egypt 801.56 1000 ha 2024 up 40.6% flat
36 New Zealand 778.2 1000 ha 2024 up 0.5% flat
37 Papua New Guinea 772.79 1000 ha 2024 up 0.2% flat
38 Myanmar 709.35 1000 ha 2024 down 0.1% flat
39 Bangladesh 676.8 1000 ha 2024 up 4.5% rising
40 Ghana 668.75 1000 ha 2024 up 2.6% rising
41 Kyrgyzstan 666.06 1000 ha 2024 down 0.2% flat
42 Nigeria 473.81 1000 ha 2024 up 0.8% flat
43 Madagascar 450.73 1000 ha 2024 down 0.1% flat
44 Iraq 446.36 1000 ha 2024 down 6.5% flat
45 Thailand 434.39 1000 ha 2024 up 1.9% falling
46 Cuba 431.58 1000 ha 2024 up 1.0% rising
47 Cambodia 419.5 1000 ha 2024 up 2.7% flat
48 Greece 410.07 1000 ha 2024 up 0.3% flat
49 Pakistan 398.73 1000 ha 2024 up 2.7% flat
50 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 395.54 1000 ha 2024 down 0.2% flat
51 Malaysia 383.21 1000 ha 2024 up 5.7% rising
52 Uruguay 379.24 1000 ha 2024 up 0.0% flat
53 Bahamas 341.4 1000 ha 2024 up 2.1% rising
54 Iceland 340.6 1000 ha 2024 down 8.8% falling
55 Solomon Islands 340.56 1000 ha 2024 up 0.0% flat
56 Italy 323.45 1000 ha 2024 down 0.4% flat
57 France 293.14 1000 ha 2024 down 0.0% flat
58 Republic of Korea 279.55 1000 ha 2024 up 0.0% flat
59 Saudi Arabia 268.76 1000 ha 2024 down 0.1% flat
60 Germany 263.48 1000 ha 2024 up 0.3% flat
61 Gabon 255.03 1000 ha 2024 up 0.1% flat
62 Botswana 251.28 1000 ha 2024 down 10.5% rising
63 Estonia 244.35 1000 ha 2024 up 0.0% flat
64 Zimbabwe 229.65 1000 ha 2024 down 10.0% falling
65 Ecuador 226.76 1000 ha 2024 down 0.8% flat
66 South Africa 222.94 1000 ha 2024 up 2.6% flat
67 Paraguay 220.88 1000 ha 2024 down 0.7% rising
68 Spain 199.13 1000 ha 2024 down 6.4% flat
69 Romania 198.43 1000 ha 2024 up 0.2% flat
70 Sudan 195.6 1000 ha 2024 up 19.2% rising
71 Honduras 186.09 1000 ha 2024 up 0.4% flat
72 Burundi 185.1 1000 ha 2024 up 0.5% flat
73 French Polynesia 181.97 1000 ha 2024 down 1.0% flat
74 Panama 172.91 1000 ha 2024 up 0.0% flat
75 Sri Lanka 172.07 1000 ha 2024 up 1.6% flat
76 Denmark 163.46 1000 ha 2024 up 0.2% flat
77 Somalia 162.84 1000 ha 2024 up 0.3% flat
78 Sudan (former) 158.67 1000 ha 2011 up 4.0% rising
79 Suriname 157.96 1000 ha 2024 up 0.5% flat
80 Ireland 152.57 1000 ha 2024 down 0.1% flat
81 Cameroon 152.36 1000 ha 2024 up 0.3% falling
82 Senegal 151.67 1000 ha 2024 down 0.0% flat
83 Poland 145.6 1000 ha 2024 down 0.3% flat
84 Yemen 141.95 1000 ha 2024 up 0.2% flat
85 Fiji 140.34 1000 ha 2024 up 0.0% flat
86 Guyana 127.34 1000 ha 2024 up 1.6% flat
87 New Caledonia 124.4 1000 ha 2024 up 0.0% flat
88 Armenia 121.23 1000 ha 2024 up 0.4% flat
89 Falkland Islands (Malvinas) 114.03 1000 ha 2024 up 0.0% flat
90 Rwanda 111.79 1000 ha 2024 up 1.0% flat
91 Angola 111.15 1000 ha 2024 up 12.3% rising
92 Chad 109.59 1000 ha 2024 up 13.2% flat
93 Guatemala 108.45 1000 ha 2024 up 0.3% flat
94 Switzerland 108.41 1000 ha 2024 up 0.3% flat
95 Kiribati 107.96 1000 ha 2024 down 0.0% flat
96 Guinea-Bissau 103.32 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
97 Netherlands (Kingdom of the) 99.69 1000 ha 2024 up 0.2% flat
98 Croatia 98.28 1000 ha 2024 down 0.2% flat
99 Algeria 96.87 1000 ha 2024 down 9.5% falling
100 Hungary 83.27 1000 ha 2024 down 0.6% flat
101 Tunisia 83.16 1000 ha 2024 down 4.2% flat
102 Eritrea 83.05 1000 ha 2024 up 1.7% flat
103 French Guiana 80.32 1000 ha 2024 up 2.1% rising
104 Tajikistan 79.67 1000 ha 2024 down 1.4% flat
105 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 78.74 1000 ha 2024 up 6.0% rising
106 Portugal 74.73 1000 ha 2024 down 1.7% flat
107 French Southern Territories 73.95 1000 ha 2024 down 0.6% flat
108 Lithuania 72.76 1000 ha 2024 up 0.2% flat
109 Congo 71.44 1000 ha 2024 up 9.3% flat
110 Dominican Republic 69.23 1000 ha 2024 down 5.9% rising
111 Latvia 67.05 1000 ha 2024 down 0.1% flat
112 Bulgaria 64.08 1000 ha 2024 down 2.0% flat
113 Serbia and Montenegro 63.53 1000 ha 2005 — flat
114 China, Taiwan Province of 62.34 1000 ha 2024 up 0.5% flat
115 Vanuatu 61.61 1000 ha 2024 up 0.1% flat
116 Morocco 60.46 1000 ha 2024 down 16.0% falling
117 Mauritania 59.78 1000 ha 2024 down 0.0% flat
118 Guinea 58.75 1000 ha 2024 up 5.8% flat
119 South Sudan 57.67 1000 ha 2024 up 821.2% volatile
120 Haiti 57.5 1000 ha 2024 down 1.4% flat
121 Mali 56.67 1000 ha 2024 up 0.3% falling
122 Belize 55.54 1000 ha 2024 up 1.0% flat
123 Oman 55.43 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
124 Belarus 55.13 1000 ha 2024 down 3.2% falling
125 United Arab Emirates 55.09 1000 ha 2024 down 0.1% flat
126 Albania 49.35 1000 ha 2024 up 0.6% flat
127 Sierra Leone 46.79 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
128 Israel 46.67 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
129 Jordan 45.38 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
130 United States Minor Outlying Islands 44.78 1000 ha 2024 down 0.0% flat
131 Costa Rica 44.04 1000 ha 2024 down 0.3% flat
132 Maldives 43.19 1000 ha 2024 down 0.5% flat
133 Libya 41.79 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
134 North Macedonia 40.73 1000 ha 2024 down 0.6% flat
135 Marshall Islands 40.61 1000 ha 2024 down 0.5% flat
136 Liberia 35.29 1000 ha 2024 up 0.1% flat
137 Seychelles 34.18 1000 ha 2024 down 0.1% flat
138 Serbia 32.23 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
139 Benin 32.15 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
140 El Salvador 31.65 1000 ha 2024 up 3.3% flat
141 Djibouti 31.26 1000 ha 2024 up 9.8% flat
142 Montenegro 31.05 1000 ha 2024 up 0.2% flat
143 Qatar 30.46 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
144 Namibia 30.24 1000 ha 2024 down 6.4% flat
145 Niger 29.58 1000 ha 2024 up 1,820.8% volatile
145 Western Sahara 29.58 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
147 Faroe Islands 24.29 1000 ha 2024 down 0.1% flat
148 Puerto Rico 24.2 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
149 Austria 23.44 1000 ha 2024 down 2.7% falling
150 Jamaica 23.22 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
151 Trinidad and Tobago 21.57 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
152 Equatorial Guinea 20.52 1000 ha 2024 down 0.1% flat
153 Georgia 20.47 1000 ha 2024 up 1.3% falling
154 Tonga 19.77 1000 ha 2024 down 1.3% flat
155 China, Hong Kong SAR 19.36 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
156 Samoa 19.35 1000 ha 2024 down 0.2% flat
157 Cook Islands 18.63 1000 ha 2024 up 0.1% flat
158 Tokelau 18.36 1000 ha 2024 down 0.1% flat
159 Gambia 18.01 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
160 Palestine 17.95 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
161 Mauritius 17.41 1000 ha 2024 down 0.3% flat
162 Guadeloupe 16.54 1000 ha 2024 down 0.1% flat
163 Burkina Faso 15.29 1000 ha 2024 up 125.5% rising
164 Turks and Caicos Islands 15.22 1000 ha 2024 down 1.8% flat
165 Kuwait 14.21 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
166 Palau 13.83 1000 ha 2024 down 0.3% flat
167 Cyprus 13.59 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
168 Netherlands Antilles (former) 13.34 1000 ha 2024 down 0.2% flat
169 Heard Island and McDonald Islands 11.01 1000 ha 2024 up 14.6% rising
170 Belgium 10.45 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
171 Martinique 9.2 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
172 Togo 9.06 1000 ha 2024 up 14.2% rising
173 Sao Tome and Principe 9 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
174 Brunei Darussalam 8.93 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
175 Bahrain 8.66 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
176 Bosnia and Herzegovina 8.65 1000 ha 2024 down 3.8% falling
177 Comoros 8.57 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
178 Réunion 8.13 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
179 Central African Republic 8.08 1000 ha 2024 up 8.3% falling
180 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 7.86 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
181 Antigua and Barbuda 7.77 1000 ha 2024 up 2.0% flat
182 United States Virgin Islands 7.38 1000 ha 2024 down 0.3% flat
183 Slovakia 7.36 1000 ha 2024 down 2.6% falling
184 Northern Mariana Islands 7.27 1000 ha 2024 down 1.0% flat
185 British Virgin Islands 7 1000 ha 2024 down 0.8% flat
186 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6.52 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
187 Cayman Islands 6.51 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
188 Mayotte 5.5 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
189 Czechia 5.45 1000 ha 2024 up 0.7% falling
190 Singapore 5.19 1000 ha 2024 up 0.4% flat
191 Tuvalu 4.87 1000 ha 2024 down 0.4% flat
192 Guam 4.79 1000 ha 2024 down 0.4% flat
193 Grenada 4.75 1000 ha 2024 down 0.4% flat
194 Ascension, Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha 4.27 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
195 Lebanon 4.06 1000 ha 2024 up 1.2% flat
196 American Samoa 3.98 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
197 Malta 3.95 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
198 Saint Kitts and Nevis 3.89 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
199 Saint Lucia 3.59 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
200 Nepal 3.58 1000 ha 2024 up 3.2% rising
201 Barbados 3.14 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
202 Afghanistan 3.07 1000 ha 2024 down 12.3% volatile
203 Bermuda 2.98 1000 ha 2024 up 0.7% flat
204 Dominica 2.72 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
205 Isle of Man 2.22 1000 ha 2024 down 0.9% flat
206 Aruba 2.14 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
207 Anguilla 1.88 1000 ha 2024 down 1.1% flat
208 Eswatini 1.69 1000 ha 2024 up 19.9% rising
209 Niue 1.67 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
210 Montserrat 1.54 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
211 Pitcairn 1.46 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
212 Slovenia 1.23 1000 ha 2024 unchanged falling
213 China, Macao SAR 0.96 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
214 Norfolk Island 0.79 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
214 Naoero 0.79 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
216 Gibraltar 0.11 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
217 Monaco 0.09 1000 ha 2024 unchanged flat
218 Lesotho 0.06 1000 ha 2024 unchanged volatile

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Inland water bodies — Area from MODIS by country. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 27 September 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/inland-water-bodies-area-from-modis/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/inland-water-bodies-area-from-modis/">Inland water bodies — Area from MODIS by country</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Inland water bodies — Area from MODIS
Unit
1000 ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
269 places, 6,390 data points, 2001–2024
Last refreshed

The FAOSTAT domain on Land Cover data under the Agri-Environmental Indicators section contains land cover information organized by the land cover classes of the international standard system for Environmental and Economic Accounting Central Framework (SEEA CF). The land cover information is compiled from publicly available Global Land Cover (GLC) maps: a) MODIS land cover types based on the Land Cover Classification System, LCCS; b) The European Spatial Agency (ESA) Climate Change Initiative (CCI) annual land cover maps produced by the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL)-Geomatics and now under the European Copernicus Program; c) The annual land cover maps which were produced under the European Copernicus Global Land Service (CGLS) (CGLS land cover, containing discrete land cover categorization), with spatial resolution 100m; and d) the WorldCover maps of the European Space Agency, produced at 10m resolution.