Marine protected areas (sq. km) by country
Marine protected areas are areas of intertidal or subtidal terrain--and overlying water and associated flora and fauna and historical and cultural features--that have been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment.
What the numbers show
Marine protected areas (sq. km) is currently reported for 37 countries. The highest value is 331,155 sq. km in Mauritania; the lowest is 0 sq. km in Liberia.
The median across all reporting countries is 880.61 sq. km, and the mean is 28,429 sq. km.
Marine protected areas: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mauritania | 331,155 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | flat |
| 2 | Congo | 112,227 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | volatile |
| 3 | Democratic Republic of Congo | 103,159 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | rising |
| 4 | Tanzania | 94,915 sq. km | 2010 | up 0.1% | rising |
| 5 | Egypt | 93,353 sq. km | 2010 | up 56.9% | rising |
| 6 | South Africa | 79,144 sq. km | 2010 | up 98.3% | volatile |
| 7 | Namibia | 67,972 sq. km | 2010 | up 1,526.4% | volatile |
| 8 | Kenya | 60,778 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | rising |
| 9 | Mozambique | 26,016 sq. km | 2010 | up 81.6% | rising |
| 10 | Senegal | 24,460 sq. km | 2010 | up 113.7% | rising |
| 11 | Gabon | 19,497 sq. km | 2010 | up 1,279.1% | volatile |
| 12 | Guinea-Bissau | 16,556 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | volatile |
| 13 | Algeria | 6,820 sq. km | 2010 | up 49.0% | rising |
| 14 | Morocco | 5,895 sq. km | 2010 | up 0.4% | rising |
| 15 | Tunisia | 1,912 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | flat |
| 16 | Cameroon | 1,859 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | flat |
| 17 | Nigeria | 1,489 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | flat |
| 18 | Sudan | 1,150 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | rising |
| 19 | Libya | 880.61 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | flat |
| 20 | Angola | 830.58 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | flat |
| 21 | Equatorial Guinea | 721.82 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | volatile |
| 22 | Madagascar | 696.15 sq. km | 2010 | up 0.0% | volatile |
| 23 | Cote d'Ivoire | 237.12 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | flat |
| 24 | Comoros | 59.01 sq. km | 2009 | — | volatile |
| 25 | Djibouti | 55.54 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | flat |
| 26 | Ghana | 31.2 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | flat |
| 27 | Gambia | 7.19 sq. km | 2010 | up 13.8% | rising |
| 28 | Mauritius | 5.7 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | rising |
| 29 | Seychelles | 2.33 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | flat |
| 30 | Somalia | 0.0893 sq. km | 2010 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | Eritrea | 0 sq. km | 2010 | — | flat |
| 31 | Cape Verde | 0 sq. km | 2010 | — | flat |
| 31 | Togo | 0 sq. km | 2010 | — | flat |
| 31 | Sierra Leone | 0 sq. km | 2010 | — | flat |
| 31 | Guinea | 0 sq. km | 2010 | — | flat |
| 31 | Benin | 0 sq. km | 2010 | — | flat |
| 31 | Liberia | 0 sq. km | 2010 | — | flat |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Africa 1.05 million sq. km
- Sub-Saharan Africa 942,910 sq. km
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 942,188 sq. km
- Sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa 863,766 sq. km
- Sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa and Nigeria 862,277 sq. km
- North Africa 108,915 sq. km
About this data
Marine protected areas are areas of intertidal or subtidal terrain--and overlying water and associated flora and fauna and historical and cultural features--that have been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment.