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Indicator

Protected Areas by African country

2025

Terrestrial and marine protected areas as a share of total territorial area.

Africa, 202554 of 54 countries
13.9%population-weighted average
Highest in 2025Zambia · 41.3%Lowest in 2025Somalia · 0.0%Reported in 202554 of 54 countries surveyed
Click a country to pin it — pinned countries are named on the map. Hatching means no record.
Western Sahara — no separate recordTanzania — 32.3%Democratic Republic of the Congo — 14.9%Somalia — 0.0%Kenya — 11.8%Sudan — 3.3%Chad — 21.0%South Africa — 12.9%Lesotho — 23.4%Zimbabwe — 28.3%Botswana — 27.6%Namibia — 24.4%Senegal — 16.6%Mali — 7.5%Mauritania — 1.0%Benin — 28.8%Niger — 21.0%Nigeria — 11.6%Cameroon — 11.0%Togo — 22.1%Ghana — 7.9%Cote d'Ivoire — 14.9%Guinea — 29.6%Guinea-Bissau — 13.2%Liberia — 1.2%Sierra Leone — 5.1%Burkina Faso — 16.8%Central African Republic — 14.8%Republic of the Congo — 34.2%Gabon — 24.4%Equatorial Guinea — 1.8%Zambia — 41.3%Malawi — 23.1%Mozambique — 18.0%Eswatini — 4.2%Angola — 7.7%Burundi — 7.6%Madagascar — 5.1%Gambia — 2.9%Tunisia — 5.2%Algeria — 4.4%Eritrea — 0.0%Morocco — 1.4%Egypt — 11.6%Libya — 0.2%Ethiopia — 17.0%Djibouti — 1.2%Uganda — 16.1%Rwanda — 9.1%South Sudan — 15.4%Nigeria 11.6%Nigeria 11.6%Ethiopia 17.0%Ethiopia 17.0%Kenya 11.8%Kenya 11.8%South Africa 12.9%South Africa 12.9%2025HIGHEST IN 2025Zambia41.3%Republic of the Congo34.2%Seychellesnot drawn32.6%Tanzania32.3%Guinea29.6%LOWEST IN 2025Somalia0.0%Mauritiusnot drawn0.0%Eritrea0.0%Sao Tome and Principenot drawn0.2%Libya0.2%PINNEDEthiopia17.0%17 of 54Kenya11.8%27 of 54Nigeria11.6%29 of 54South Africa12.9%26 of 54OTHER ISLAND STATES · NOT DRAWNCabo Verdenot drawn0.2%Comorosnot drawn0.7%% of total · quintiles of the observed range0%1.4%7.7%14.9%23.1%41.3%no record
20142025
World Bank · national statistics offices · the provider's own estimates where a country has not reportedCC BY 4.0
Countries

By region

Population-weighted, so a region’s figure is the share of its people, not the average of its countries.
Eastern Africa18 of 18 countries18.0%
Middle Africa9 of 9 countries14.2%
Southern Africa5 of 5 countries14.1%
Western Africa16 of 16 countries13.3%
Northern Africa6 of 6 countries6.8%
Africaall 54 countries · 54 with a 2025 figure13.9%

What to know before you quote this

Specific to this series. For how we treat data generally, see methods.
Certainty is judged year by yearA country can be Reported in one year and Modelled the next. The tag follows the year on the scrubber, so the 2025 assessment is not a verdict on the whole series.

About this data

Protected AreasTerrestrial and marine protected areas as a share of total territorial area.
SourceWorld Bank, with processing by Africa API
Unit% of total
Last updated15 Oct 2026
Next expected updateOct 2027
Date range2013–2025
Coverage54 of 54 countries · 54 reported, 0 modelled, 0 with no usable figure

How the figure is made

ReportedA national statistics office or the original provider published the figure for that year directly. 54 countries did so for 2025 — the certainty shown on this page is that 2025 assessment, not a per-series one.ModelledNo direct figure that year. The provider’s own estimate, interpolation or projection stands in, and is marked as such wherever it appears.No dataNo usable figure within the window. Drawn hatched on the map and left blank in the table — not zero, and not filled in.

These three states are used the same way across every indicator on the site — how we treat certainty explains the full set and what we never do to a number.

Reuse and cite

Everything on this page is open under CC BY 4.0 — use it anywhere, including commercially, as long as Africa API and the original provider are credited. The provider’s own licence still applies to their data.

How to cite this page
Africa API (2026) — "Protected Areas". Data adapted from World Bank. Retrieved 18 Oct 2026 from africa-api.com/indicators/protected-areas
The request behind this view
GET /v1/data?metric_key=protected_areas_pct_total&year=2025&limit=100

Read next

The measures that explain this one.
ClimateCO2 Emissions per CapitaGreenhouse gas emissions per person, in tonnes of CO2 equivalent.ClimateRenewable Electricity OutputElectricity generated from renewable sources as a share of total output.ClimateForest AreaForest area as a share of total land area.

Protected Areas: most recent figure per country, highest to lowest

54 countries · each with its own period

The figures at the top of the page compare every country in the same year. This list takes each country’s newest figure instead, whatever its period, so the order can differ.

#CountryProtected AreasPeriod
1Zambia41.3%2025
2Republic of the Congo34.2%2025
3Seychelles32.6%2025
4Tanzania32.3%2025
5Guinea29.6%2025
6Benin28.8%2025
7Zimbabwe28.3%2025
8Botswana27.6%2025
9Gabon24.4%2025
10Namibia24.4%2025
11Lesotho23.4%2025
12Malawi23.1%2025
13Togo22.1%2025
14Chad21%2025
15Niger21%2025
16Mozambique18%2025
17Ethiopia17%2025
18Burkina Faso16.8%2025
19Senegal16.6%2025
20Uganda16.1%2025
21South Sudan15.4%2025
22Cote d'Ivoire14.9%2025
23Democratic Republic of the Congo14.9%2025
24Central African Republic14.8%2025
25Guinea-Bissau13.2%2025
26South Africa12.9%2025
27Kenya11.8%2025
28Egypt11.6%2025
29Nigeria11.6%2025
30Cameroon11%2025
31Rwanda9.1%2025
32Ghana7.9%2025
33Angola7.7%2025
34Burundi7.6%2025
35Mali7.5%2025
36Tunisia5.2%2025
37Madagascar5.1%2025
38Sierra Leone5.1%2025
39Algeria4.4%2025
40Eswatini4.2%2025
41Sudan3.3%2025
42Gambia2.9%2025
43Equatorial Guinea1.8%2025
44Morocco1.4%2025
45Djibouti1.2%2025
46Liberia1.2%2025
47Mauritania1%2025
48Comoros0.7%2025
49Cabo Verde0.2%2025
50Libya0.2%2025
51Sao Tome and Principe0.2%2025
52Eritrea0%2025
53Mauritius0%2025
54Somalia0%2025
Which observations are included?
The ranking includes 54 of 54 countries with available observations for 2023 or later and within 2 years of the freshest result. Each figure shows its reporting period. Countries without an eligible observation are omitted.
Does a higher value mean a better result?
The ranking 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.

Embed this ranking

free · updates with the data

Drop this ranking into an article or a site and it stays current as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed; a citation link is included.

<iframe src="https://africa-api.com/embed/protected-areas" width="100%" height="560" loading="lazy" style="border:0;max-width:640px" title="Protected Areas by African country, Africa API"></iframe>
<p style="font:13px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif;margin:.5rem 0"><a href="https://africa-api.com/indicators/protected-areas">Protected Areas by African country, Africa API</a></p>

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