Lists of national parks

Yellowstone National Park in the United States was the first national park in the world.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the United States is the most visited national park in the world.

This is a list of the number of national parks per nation, as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Nearly 100 countries around the world have lands classified as a national park by this definition.

Note that this article links to list articles of national parks by country on Wikipedia in the "Country" column in the tables.

Africa

Mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda
Oryx in the Awash National Park, Ethiopia
Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia
Landscape of Serengeti National Park in Tanzania
See also: List of national parks in Africa
Country Oldest
(year) 		Number
of parks 		Total area
km2		 Percentage
of country
Algeria 1929 11 527,661.68 22.1%
Angola 8
Ascension Island[1] 2005 1
Benin 2
Botswana 1968 4 56,258 9.67%
Burkina Faso 1954 4
Burundi 1934 3 1,014 3.6%
Cameroon 27
Cape Verde 1
Central African Republic 5
Chad 1963 4 14,540 1.13%
Comoros 2010 6 1,165.77 52.16%
Democratic Republic of the Congo 9
Republic of the Congo 5
Côte d'Ivoire 1953 9
Djibouti 3
Egypt 1983 5 4,353 4.3%
Equatorial Guinea 3
Eritrea 2
Eswatini 1967 1 300 1.74%
Ethiopia 1959 22
Gabon 2002 13 26,766 10.0%
Gambia 1978 5 169.9 1.5%
Ghana 1971 7
Guinea 3
Guinea-Bissau 6
Kenya 1946 24
Lesotho 2
Liberia 8
Libya 6
Madagascar 1958 26 14,327 2.4%
Malawi 1966 6
Mali 4
Mauritania 2
Mauritius 1994 3 7,160 3.5%
Morocco 1942 12
Mozambique 1960 7 40,970 5.1%
Namibia 1907 20 10,878 13.2%
Niger 1954 1
Nigeria 1979 8 20,156 3.0%
Rwanda 3
Sao Tome and Principe 1
Senegal 6
Seychelles 1973 9
Sierra Leone 1986 8
Somalia 6
South Africa 1926 21 37,000 3%
South Sudan 6
Sudan 4
Tanzania[2] 1951 23 99,306.5
Togo 3
Tunisia 1980 17
Uganda 1952 10
Zambia 1924 28 240,836.48 32%
Zimbabwe 1926 11

Asia

Lake Band-e-Amir the national park of Afghanistan.
Valley of Flowers National Park, Uttarakhand, India
Baltoro Glacier in Central Karakoram National Park, Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan
View of Cappadocia landscape in Turkey
Country Oldest
(year)		 Number
of parks		 Total area
km²		 Percentage
of country
Afghanistan 2009 2 11,516.28
Armenia 1978 4 1,176
Azerbaijan 2003 11
Bangladesh 18
Bhutan 5 8,008 20.8%
Brunei 2
Cambodia 1993 13 7,422.5 4.1%
China 2021 5
Georgia 11
India 1936 116 38,136 1.16%
Indonesia 1980 56 160,520 8.43%
Iran 1974 23 19,757 1.2%
Iraq 2
Israel 1964 49 6,400 30%
Japan 1934 34 20,482 5.4%
Jordan
Kazakhstan 1985 13 18,876 0.7%
Kyrgyzstan 1976 13 7,246.7 3.625%
Lebanon 4
Maldives
Malaysia 29
Mongolia 1783[3][4][5] 29
Myanmar 1982 9 10,351 1.5%
Nepal 1973 12 34,426 23.39%
North Korea 9
Oman 1997 1 220 0.07%
Pakistan 1972 26 132,919.71 6.63%
Philippines 1933 36 1,820 0.6%
Qatar
Russia 1983 64 155,672
Saudi Arabia 3
South Korea 1967 22 6,726 6.70%[6]
Sri Lanka 1938 26
Republic of China (Taiwan) 1984 9 3,104 8.6%
Tajikistan 1992 1 26,000 18%
Timor-Leste 2007 1 1,236 8.27%
Thailand 1961 156 61,413 11.96%
Turkey 1958 43 8,481 1%
United Arab Emirates 4
Uzbekistan 4
Vietnam 1962 32
Yemen 2

Europe

Rondane National Park, Norway
A wisent in the Białowieża Forest, Poland
A Welsh Mountain Pony in the Brecon Beacons National Park (Bannau Brycheiniog), United Kingdom
A sunset over the lakes in the Mljet National Park in Croatia
Borjomi National Park, Georgia
Popradské pleso in Tatra National Park, Slovakia.
Country Oldest
(year)		 Number
of parks		 Total area
km²		 Percentage
of country
Albania 1966 14 2,106.68 6.7%
Austria 1981 7 2,521 3.0%
Belarus 1939 4 2,222 1.0%
Belgium 2001 6 638.71 2.1 %
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1965 4 473 0.9%
Bulgaria 1963 3 1,930 1.8%
Croatia 1949 8 994 1.8%
Czech Republic 1963 4 1,190 1.5%
Denmark[note 1] 2008 5 2,322 5.4%
Estonia 1971 6 2,370 5.2%
Finland 1956 40 9,892[7] 2.9%
France[note 2] 1963 11[8] 60,728[9] 9.5%
Georgia 1946 11 5,111 7.0%
Germany 1970 16 10,395 2.7%
Greece 1938 15 6,960 3.6%
Hungary 1972 10 4,819 5.2%
Iceland 1928 3 12,407 12.1%
Ireland 1932 6 650 0.9%
Italy 1922 25 15,000 5.0%
Kosovo 1986 2 1,014.88 9.3%
Latvia 1973 4 2,065 3.2%
Lithuania 1974 5 1,554 2.4%
Malta 2007 1 2.5 0.69%
Moldova 2013 1 337 1%
Montenegro 1952 5 1,096 7.9%
Netherlands 1930 21 1,251 3.0%
North Macedonia 1948 3 974 3.8%
Norway 1962 47 24,060 6.3%
Poland 1932 23 3,149 1.0%
Portugal 1971 1 702 0.8%
Romania 1935 14 3,158 1.3%
Russia 1983 48 141,200 0.82%
Serbia 1960 7 1,936 2.19%
Slovakia 1949 9 3,690 7.5%
Slovenia 1961 1 838 4.1%
Spain 1918 16 3,845 0.8%
Sweden 1909 30 7,199 1.6%
Switzerland 1914 1 170 0.4%
Turkey 1958 50 9,288 1.0%
Ukraine 1980 48 7,020 1.2%
United Kingdom 1951 15 19,989 8.2%
Links to lists of national parks by region

North and Central America

See also: List of national parks in the United States and List of national parks in Canada
Sunset at Wotans Throne in Grand Canyon National Park, United States.
Auyuittuq National Park, Canada
Basaseachic Falls National Park, Mexico
Half Dome at Yosemite National Park, United States
Bedrock outcrops at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, United States
Country Oldest
(year)		 Number
of parks		 Total area
km2		 Percentage
of country
Antigua and Barbuda 6
Aruba 1
Bahamas 40
Barbados 1
Belize 1986 18 1,701 7.4%
British Virgin Islands 14
Canada 1885 47 377,000 3.78%
Costa Rica 1955 29 12,913 25.1%
Cuba 14
Curacao 1978 2 20.8 4.68%
Dominica 1975 3 107 7.01%
Dominican Republic 1956 29
El Salvador 8
Grenada 3
Guatemala 1955 22
Haiti 1983 16 88 0.31%
Honduras 18
Jamaica 1
Mexico 1917 67 14,320 0.73%
Nicaragua 1979 3 25,327 17.3%
Panama 1966 16 12,520[10] 16.57%
Saint Kitts & Nevis 5
Saint Lucia 2
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1
Trinidad & Tobago 1
Turks and Caicos Islands 11
United States (excluding territories) 1872 61 210,000 2.19%
US Virgin Islands 1

South America

Iguazu Falls, is located on both Iguazú National Park, Argentina, and Iguaçu National Park, Brazil it is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.
Country Oldest
(year)		 Number
of parks		 Total area
km²		 Percentage
of country
Argentina[11] 1922 37 38,452 1.38%
Bolivia 1939 13 65,910 6%
Brazil[12] 1937 75 250,000 2.968%
Chile[13] 1926 41 146,046 19.3%
Colombia 1960 60 169,545 12.5%
Ecuador 1959 12 34,733 12.2%
Guyana 1929 1
Paraguay 1948 15 60,662 14.9%
Peru 1961 15 79,665 6.2%
Uruguay 1937 7
Venezuela 1937 46 199,418 21.76%
French Guiana: see France

Oceania

Twelve Apostles in Port Campbell National Park, Victoria, Australia.
The Hooker Valley Track in Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand.

.

Country Oldest
(year)		 Number
of parks		 Total area
km²		 Percentage
of country
American Samoa 1
Australia 1879 685 335,062 4.36%
Cook Islands 1
Fiji 1987 1
New Zealand 1887 13 28,873 10.8%
Papua New Guinea 8
Samoa 5
Solomon Islands 1
Tonga 1992 4
Hawaii: see United States
Easter Island: see Chile

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Refers to mainland Denmark only (part in Europe). For Greenland, see Northeast Greenland National Park, Greenland's only national park, which was established in 1974 and is the world's largest at 971,000 km² (44.8% of Greenland's area).
  2. ^ Includes overseas departments (outside Europe) where there are three national parks: the 33,900 km² Guiana Amazonian Park in French Guiana, 1,054 km² Réunion National Park in Réunion and 173 km² Guadeloupe National Park in Guadeloupe.

References

  1. ^ "Green Mountain - Ascension Island Government". Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  2. ^ "TANAPA History". tanzaniaparks.go.tz (in English and Swahili). Dodoma, Tanzania: Tanzania National Parks Authority. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022. By September 2019, TANAPA has grown to 22 national parks, covering approximately 99,306.5 square Kilometers
  3. ^ Hardy, U. (9 April 2017). "The 10 Oldest National Parks In The World". The CultureTrip. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  4. ^ Whitten, T. (28 April 2009). "Mongolia: tough decisions about the world's oldest nature reserve". The World Bank. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  5. ^ Bonnett, A. (2016). The Geography of Nostalgia: Global and Local Perspectives on Modernity and Loss. Routledge. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-315-88297-0.
  6. ^ "e-나라지표 국립공원현황". Statistics Korea. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  7. ^ Number and Size of Protected Areas Managed by Metsähallitus Number and Size of Protected Areas Managed by Metsähallitus, Metsähallitus, retrieved 2016-11-30
  8. ^ Les parcs nationaux 11 espaces naturels proteges, Parcs nationaux de France, retrieved 2024-12-27
  9. ^ Les dix parcs nationaux français, Parcs nationaux de France, archived from the original on 2012-08-05, retrieved 2012-07-22
  10. ^ "Parques Nacionales: Espacios de riquezas invaluables - MiAmbiente". 24 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Sistema de Información de Biodiversidad - Áreas Protegidas" (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  12. ^ "Federal conservation units of Brasil". Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
  13. ^ Corporación Nacional Forestal (Chile National Forest Corporation), retrieved 19 July 2017
  14. ^ "Áreas Silvestres Protegidas del Paraguay. SINASIP" (PDF). Awsassets.panda.org. Retrieved 5 February 2019.