Environment > Wetlands of intl importance > Area: Countries Compared

Author: Ian Graham, Staff Editor

The Pantanal is the largest continental wetland in the world, covering 130,357 square kilometers in Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia. Its 175 piranha-infested rivers are home to 10 million cayman crocodiles and 600,000 capybara, the worldâ€™s largest rodents. 50 species of reptiles, 190 mammal species including jaguar and howler monkeys, more than 1000 species of butterflies, and 658 bird species live in the area. <p>A UN report on the wetlands says 85 percent of the rich, fragile ecosystem could be wiped out if the earthâ€™s temperature rises by three or four degrees Celsius. <p>The area is also under threat from industrial development. The region has some of the largest reserves of magnesium and iron ore in the world and the stateâ€™s governor is proposing the building of a steel mill and the fivefold increase of iron ore extraction.

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DEFINITION: Wetlands of international importance 2002.

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#	COUNTRY	AMOUNT	DATE
1	Canada	13,052 thousand hectares	2002
2	Russia	10,324 thousand hectares	2002
3	Botswana	6,864 thousand hectares	2002
4	Peru	6,759 thousand hectares	2002
5	Brazil	6,346 thousand hectares	2002
6	Bolivia	5,504 thousand hectares	2002
7	Guinea	4,779 thousand hectares	2002
8	Argentina	2,670 thousand hectares	2002
9	China	2,548 thousand hectares	2002
	Group of 7 countries (G7) average (profile)	2,408.86 thousand hectares	2002
10	Denmark	2,283 thousand hectares	2002
11	Algeria	1,866 thousand hectares	2002
12	Chad	1,843 thousand hectares	2002
	Non-religious countries average (profile)	1,613.82 thousand hectares	2002
	Emerging markets average (profile)	1,366.48 thousand hectares	2002
13	Mauritania	1,231 thousand hectares	2002
14	United States	1,190 thousand hectares	2002
	Former Spanish colonies average (profile)	1,182.47 thousand hectares	2002
15	Mexico	1,157 thousand hectares	2002
16	Gabon	1,080 thousand hectares	2002
17	United Kingdom	855 thousand hectares	2002
18	Germany	829 thousand hectares	2002
19	France	795 thousand hectares	2002
	NATO countries average (profile)	780.15 thousand hectares	2002
20	Paraguay	775 thousand hectares	2002
	High income OECD countries average (profile)	763.18 thousand hectares	2002
21	Ukraine	716 thousand hectares	2002
22	Niger	715 thousand hectares	2002
23	Romania	665 thousand hectares	2002
24	Mongolia	631 thousand hectares	2002
25	Namibia	630 thousand hectares	2002
26	Bangladesh	606 thousand hectares	2002
27	Papua New Guinea	595 thousand hectares	2002
28	Sweden	515 thousand hectares	2002
29	Guatemala	503 thousand hectares	2002
30	South Africa	499 thousand hectares	2002
31	Armenia	492 thousand hectares	2002
32	Cuba	452 thousand hectares	2002
=33	Colombia	439 thousand hectares	2002
=33	Democratic Republic of the Congo	439 thousand hectares	2002
35	Uruguay	407 thousand hectares	2002
36	Nicaragua	406 thousand hectares	2002
37	Zambia	333 thousand hectares	2002
38	Netherlands	327 thousand hectares	2002
39	Costa Rica	313 thousand hectares	2002
	European Union average (profile)	310.52 thousand hectares	2002
40	Burkina Faso	299 thousand hectares	2002
41	Sierra Leone	295 thousand hectares	2002
42	Pakistan	284 thousand hectares	2002
43	Venezuela	264 thousand hectares	2002
44	Indonesia	243 thousand hectares	2002
45	Malawi	225 thousand hectares	2002
46	Estonia	216 thousand hectares	2002
47	Belarus	204 thousand hectares	2002
	Eurozone average (profile)	201.73 thousand hectares	2002
48	India	195 thousand hectares	2002
49	Togo	194 thousand hectares	2002
50	Ghana	178 thousand hectares	2002
51	Honduras	172 thousand hectares	2002
52	Greece	164 thousand hectares	2002
53	Mali	162 thousand hectares	2002
54	Turkey	159 thousand hectares	2002
55	Spain	158 thousand hectares	2002
56	Hungary	154 thousand hectares	2002
=57	Finland	139 thousand hectares	2002
=57	Benin	139 thousand hectares	2002
59	Thailand	132 thousand hectares	2002
60	Austria	118 thousand hectares	2002
61	Panama	111 thousand hectares	2002
62	Egypt	106 thousand hectares	2002
=63	Senegal	100 thousand hectares	2002
=63	Azerbaijan	100 thousand hectares	2002
=63	Chile	100 thousand hectares	2002
66	Tajikistan	95 thousand hectares	2002
67	Kenya	91 thousand hectares	2002
68	Poland	90 thousand hectares	2002
69	Japan	84 thousand hectares	2002
70	Croatia	80 thousand hectares	2002
71	Norway	70 thousand hectares	2002
72	Philippines	68 thousand hectares	2002
73	Ireland	67 thousand hectares	2002
74	Portugal	66 thousand hectares	2002
75	Iceland	59 thousand hectares	2002
76	Nigeria	58 thousand hectares	2002
77	Italy	57 thousand hectares	2002
78	Cambodia	55 thousand hectares	2002
79	Madagascar	53 thousand hectares	2002
80	Lithuania	50 thousand hectares	2002
81	Latvia	43 thousand hectares	2002
82	Czech Republic	42 thousand hectares	2002
83	Serbia and Montenegro	40 thousand hectares	2002
=84	New Zealand	39 thousand hectares	2002
=84	Guinea-Bissau	39 thousand hectares	2002
=86	Slovakia	38 thousand hectares	2002
=86	Malaysia	38 thousand hectares	2002
88	Georgia	34 thousand hectares	2002
=89	The Gambia	20 thousand hectares	2002
=89	Albania	20 thousand hectares	2002
=91	Republic of Macedonia	19 thousand hectares	2002
=91	Cote d'Ivoire	19 thousand hectares	2002
93	Nepal	18 thousand hectares	2002
94	Uganda	15 thousand hectares	2002
95	Morocco	14 thousand hectares	2002
96	Tunisia	13 thousand hectares	2002
=97	Suriname	12 thousand hectares	2002
=97	Vietnam	12 thousand hectares	2002
=99	Belgium	8 thousand hectares	2002
=99	Sri Lanka	8 thousand hectares	2002
=101	Bosnia and Herzegovina	7 thousand hectares	2002
=101	Belize	7 thousand hectares	2002
=101	Jordan	7 thousand hectares	2002
=101	Switzerland	7 thousand hectares	2002
=105	Trinidad and Tobago	6 thousand hectares	2002
=105	Jamaica	6 thousand hectares	2002
107	Bulgaria	3 thousand hectares	2002
108	El Salvador	2 thousand hectares	2002
=109	Lebanon	1 thousand hectares	2002
=109	Slovenia	1 thousand hectares	2002
=109	Burundi	1 thousand hectares	2002
112	Israel	0.0	2002

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