Countries ranked by Marine protected areas (share of territorial waters)

The share of a country’s territorial waters (the sea out to 12 nautical miles from the coast) that is set aside as marine protected areas.

#1 Monaco (100.0%), #2 Palau (98.0%), #3 Kazakhstan (52.5%). Several countries are tied for last place, including Vanuatu (0.0%).

How to read this number

Marine protected areas are areas of intertidal or subtidal terrain, with the water above them and the plants and animals in them, that have been reserved by law to protect part or all of the environment. The value is the share of the country’s territorial waters (the sea out to 12 nautical miles from the coast) that is protected. Source: Protected Planet (UNEP-WCMC and IUCN).

Countries without a sea coast have no territorial waters and are not ranked. The figure covers territorial waters only, not the wider sea farther offshore, so protected areas far from the coast are not reflected. A larger share does not by itself mean that the protection is well enforced.

  • Countries listed: 153 (of 193)
  • Data year: 2025

Map

Ranking table

Sorted from the highest value

RankCountryMarine protected areas (share of territorial waters)YearBar
1 Monaco 100.0% 2025
2 Palau 98.0% 2025
3 Kazakhstan 52.5% 2025
4 France 49.2% 2025
5 United Kingdom 46.8% 2025
6 Australia 45.4% 2025
7 Germany 45.3% 2025
8 Chile 41.2% 2025
9 Colombia 41.1% 2025
10 Belgium 38.3% 2025
11 Netherlands 33.5% 2025
12 Seychelles 32.6% 2025
13 New Zealand 30.4% 2025
14 Costa Rica 28.4% 2025
15 Denmark 27.1% 2025
16 Gabon 26.8% 2025
17 Brazil 26.6% 2025
18 Panama 26.3% 2025
19 Poland 24.0% 2025
20 Lithuania 23.2% 2025
21 Mexico 22.6% 2025
22 Ukraine 21.6% 2025
23 Romania 21.5% 2025
24 Bahrain 21.4% 2025
25 Belize 20.4% 2025
26 Ecuador 19.3% 2025
27 Estonia 19.2% 2025
28= Spain 19.0% 2025
28= United States 19.0% 2025
30 Sudan 17.0% 2025
31 Portugal 16.9% 2025
32 Latvia 16.4% 2025
33 Oman 16.2% 2025
34 Sweden 16.1% 2025
35 South Africa 15.4% 2025
36 Republic of the Congo 14.1% 2025
37 Japan 13.8% 2025
38 Dominican Republic 13.3% 2025
39= United Arab Emirates 12.0% 2025
39= Argentina 12.0% 2025
41 Kiribati 11.9% 2025
42 Finland 11.8% 2025
43 Cameroon 11.4% 2025
44 Italy 11.0% 2025
45 Croatia 9.3% 2025
46 Canada 9.2% 2025
47 Guinea-Bissau 9.1% 2025
48= Bangladesh 8.6% 2025
48= Cyprus 8.6% 2025
50 Bulgaria 8.2% 2025
51 Peru 7.9% 2025
52 Malta 7.8% 2025
53 Bahamas 7.7% 2025
54 Montenegro 5.3% 2025
55 Egypt 5.1% 2025
56 Thailand 5.0% 2025
57 Honduras 4.9% 2025
58= China 4.8% 2025
58= Malaysia 4.8% 2025
60 Greece 4.7% 2025
61 St. Kitts & Nevis 4.5% 2025
62 Venezuela 4.4% 2025
63= Cuba 4.2% 2025
63= Turkmenistan 4.2% 2025
65 Mauritania 3.7% 2025
66 Nicaragua 3.6% 2025
67 Saudi Arabia 3.5% 2025
68 Albania 3.4% 2025
69 Kuwait 3.2% 2025
70 Senegal 3.1% 2025
71 Indonesia 3.0% 2025
72 Slovenia 2.9% 2025
73 Jordan 2.8% 2025
74 Ireland 2.4% 2025
75= South Korea 2.3% 2025
75= Qatar 2.3% 2025
75= Tanzania 2.3% 2025
78 Russia 2.2% 2025
79 Mozambique 2.1% 2025
80 Haiti 1.8% 2025
81= Namibia 1.7% 2025
81= Sierra Leone 1.7% 2025
81= Türkiye 1.7% 2025
84 Philippines 1.6% 2025
85= Cambodia 1.5% 2025
85= Suriname 1.5% 2025
85= Uruguay 1.5% 2025
88 Madagascar 1.4% 2025
89 Pakistan 1.2% 2025
90 Tunisia 1.1% 2025
91= Azerbaijan 1.0% 2025
91= Norway 1.0% 2025
93= Fiji 0.9% 2025
93= Guatemala 0.9% 2025
93= Iran 0.9% 2025
96= Benin 0.8% 2025
96= Georgia 0.8% 2025
96= El Salvador 0.8% 2025
99= Antigua & Barbuda 0.7% 2025
99= Gambia 0.7% 2025
99= Jamaica 0.7% 2025
99= Kenya 0.7% 2025
99= Togo 0.7% 2025
99= Timor-Leste 0.7% 2025
105= Guinea 0.6% 2025
105= Israel 0.6% 2025
105= Libya 0.6% 2025
105= Myanmar 0.6% 2025
109= Democratic Republic of the Congo 0.5% 2025
109= Iceland 0.5% 2025
109= Vietnam 0.5% 2025
112= Comoros 0.4% 2025
112= Yemen 0.4% 2025
114= Equatorial Guinea 0.3% 2025
114= India 0.3% 2025
114= St. Lucia 0.3% 2025
114= Sri Lanka 0.3% 2025
114= Morocco 0.3% 2025
114= Marshall Islands 0.3% 2025
120= Côte d’Ivoire 0.2% 2025
120= Djibouti 0.2% 2025
120= Lebanon 0.2% 2025
120= Syria 0.2% 2025
120= St. Vincent & Grenadines 0.2% 2025
120= Samoa 0.2% 2025
126= Cape Verde 0.1% 2025
126= Dominica 0.1% 2025
126= Algeria 0.1% 2025
126= Grenada 0.1% 2025
126= Liberia 0.1% 2025
126= Maldives 0.1% 2025
126= Papua New Guinea 0.1% 2025
126= Solomon Islands 0.1% 2025
126= Tonga 0.1% 2025
126= Trinidad & Tobago 0.1% 2025
136= Angola 0.0% 2025
136= Bosnia & Herzegovina 0.0% 2025
136= Barbados 0.0% 2025
136= Brunei 0.0% 2025
136= Eritrea 0.0% 2025
136= Micronesia 0.0% 2025
136= Ghana 0.0% 2025
136= Guyana 0.0% 2025
136= Iraq 0.0% 2025
136= North Korea 0.0% 2025
136= Mauritius 0.0% 2025
136= Nigeria 0.0% 2025
136= Nauru 0.0% 2025
136= Singapore 0.0% 2025
136= Somalia 0.0% 2025
136= São Tomé & Príncipe 0.0% 2025
136= Tuvalu 0.0% 2025
136= Vanuatu 0.0% 2025

Each value is the latest year available for that country (see the Year column), so the years can differ from country to country.

Data is available for 153 of 193 countries. The rest are not listed.

Source: Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters), indicator ER.MRN.PTMR.ZS. Processed by this site. data.worldbank.org

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