Want to know which are the world’s most tree-filled nations? The map shows those countries with the highest percentage of forest area, according to World Bank Open Data. Source: Telegraph UK
Unsurprisingly, the tropical lands of South America, the Caribbean, Africa, south-east Asia and the South Pacific dominate, with Suriname, Micronesia, Palau, Gabon, Guyana, American Samoa and the Solomon Islands all in the top 10.
But some more northerly countries fare well too, with Finland (72.9% forest area), 11th, Sweden (69.2%) 15th, and Japan (68.6% ) 17th.
A third of the United States is classed as forest, while in Britain it’s 12%.
And the least tree-filled countries? There are four with no forest whatsoever, according to World Bank’s definition – San Marino, Qatar, Greenland and Oman, while in a further 12 places there is less than 1%.
The data from 2012 includes “land under natural or planted stands of trees of at least five meters in situ, whether productive or not, and excludes tree stands in agricultural production systems, for example, in fruit plantations and agroforestry systems and trees in urban parks and gardens.
