Climate · Africa ranking
Protected Areas by African country
Zambia has the highest reported protected land and marine area share among the 54 countries shown, at 41.3% (2025).
Terrestrial and marine protected areas as a share of total territorial area. 54 of 54 countries are shown. Open a country to see its source details and available history.
Zambia
Republic of the Congo
SeychellesBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Protected Areas | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zambia | 41.3% | |
| 2 | Republic of the Congo | 34.2% | |
| 3 | Seychelles | 32.6% | |
| 4 | Tanzania | 32.3% | |
| 5 | Guinea | 29.6% | |
| 6 | Benin | 28.8% | |
| 7 | Zimbabwe | 28.3% | |
| 8 | Botswana | 27.6% | |
| 9 | Gabon | 24.4% | |
| 10 | Namibia | 24.4% | |
| 11 | Lesotho | 23.4% | |
| 12 | Malawi | 23.1% | |
| 13 | Togo | 22.1% | |
| 14 | Chad | 21% | |
| 15 | Niger | 21% | |
| 16 | Mozambique | 18% | |
| 17 | Ethiopia | 17% | |
| 18 | Burkina Faso | 16.8% | |
| 19 | Senegal | 16.6% | |
| 20 | Uganda | 16.1% | |
| 21 | South Sudan | 15.4% | |
| 22 | Cote d'Ivoire | 14.9% | |
| 23 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 14.9% | |
| 24 | Central African Republic | 14.8% | |
| 25 | Guinea-Bissau | 13.2% | |
| 26 | South Africa | 12.9% | |
| 27 | Kenya | 11.8% | |
| 28 | Egypt | 11.6% | |
| 29 | Nigeria | 11.6% | |
| 30 | Cameroon | 11% | |
| 31 | Rwanda | 9.1% | |
| 32 | Ghana | 7.9% | |
| 33 | Angola | 7.7% | |
| 34 | Burundi | 7.6% | |
| 35 | Mali | 7.5% | |
| 36 | Tunisia | 5.2% | |
| 37 | Madagascar | 5.1% | |
| 38 | Sierra Leone | 5.1% | |
| 39 | Algeria | 4.4% | |
| 40 | Eswatini | 4.2% | |
| 41 | Sudan | 3.3% | |
| 42 | Gambia | 2.9% | |
| 43 | Equatorial Guinea | 1.8% | |
| 44 | Morocco | 1.4% | |
| 45 | Djibouti | 1.2% | |
| 46 | Liberia | 1.2% | |
| 47 | Mauritania | 1% | |
| 48 | Comoros | 0.7% | |
| 49 | Cabo Verde | 0.2% | |
| 50 | Libya | 0.2% | |
| 51 | Sao Tome and Principe | 0.2% | |
| 52 | Eritrea | 0% | |
| 53 | Mauritius | 0% | |
| 54 | Somalia | 0% |
Tanzania
Guinea
Benin
Zimbabwe
Botswana
Gabon
Namibia
Lesotho
Malawi
Togo
Chad
Niger
Mozambique
Ethiopia
Burkina Faso
Senegal
Uganda
South Sudan
Cote d'Ivoire
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Central African Republic
Guinea-Bissau
South Africa
Kenya
Egypt
Nigeria
Cameroon
Rwanda
Ghana
Angola
Burundi
Mali
Tunisia
Madagascar
Sierra Leone
Algeria
Eswatini
Sudan
Gambia
Equatorial Guinea
Morocco
Djibouti
Liberia
Mauritania
Comoros
Cabo Verde
Libya
Sao Tome and Principe
Eritrea
Mauritius
SomaliaGet this ranking via API
Request the latest available Protected Areas values for the selected countries as JSON. The response includes source metadata; check reporting periods before comparing values.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=protected_areas_pct_total&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Check the original source's reuse conditions before republishing. Keep each observation's source and reporting period with the value, and link to this page. See the terms and source metadata reference.
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Paste this snippet into a page that supports iframes. The chart loads the available ranking observations and includes their reporting periods. A link to this page is included.
About this ranking
Which observations are included?
The table includes 54 of 54 countries with available observations for 2023 or later and within 2 years of the freshest result. Each row shows its reporting period. Countries without an eligible observation are omitted.
Does a higher value mean a better result?
The table is sorted by value, from highest to lowest. The order does not rate a country's performance. Interpretation depends on the indicator and its definition.
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