Country with the largest area of protected land

According to the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), managed by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), a total of 54.1% of land in Venezuela is considered "protected" as of 2018. A protected area is defined as "an area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means."

The French overseas territory of New Caledonia in the South Pacific Ocean has an even higher percentage of 54.4% but this record is exclusively for sovereign countries.

As of July 2018, according to the WDPA, approximately 14.9% of land on Earth was protected, amounting to an area of just over 20 million km2 (7.7 million sq mi).

The top 10 countries with the highest percentage of protected land as of 2018 (excluding territories/autonomous regions etc) are:

1. Venezuela: 54.1%

2. Slovenia: 53.6%

3. Bhutan: 48%

4. Brunei: 46.9%

5. Seychelles: 42.1%

6. Luxembourg: 40.9%

7. Republic of Congo: 40.7%

8. Poland: 39.7%

9. Croatia: 38.3%

10. Tanzania: 38.1%