Data for 1997

Forest Area, 1997

Name: Forest Area, 1997
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
License: https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en/

1997, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Forest Area, 1997 covers 205 countries. Suriname is highest, at 95.646; 4 countries share the lowest reading, 0.000. The middle country reads 31.868. Against 1996, 169 values changed (68 up, 101 down), the same countries are covered.

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Forest Area · Data for 1997

HighestSuriname

95.646

Lowest4 countries share it

0.000

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

205countries
1measure
1997the year it describes
202distinct values18 decimals, as published
Sep 6, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Forest Area, 1997, as published. FAO ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 205 countries · select a heading to sort

Forest Area, 1997: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	Suriname`SUR`South America	95.646
2	Guyana`GUY`South America	94.364
3	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	94.141
4	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	92.050
5	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	91.109
6	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	90.739
7	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	89.160
8	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	86.310
9	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	85.111
10	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	80.189
11	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	77.319
12	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	76.243
13	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	76.042
14	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	73.261
15	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	73.130
16	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	72.410
17	Northern Mariana Islands`MNP`Micronesia	70.554
18	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	69.065
19	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	68.308
20	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	67.370
21	Brazil`BRA`South America	67.291
22	Belize`BLZ`Central America	65.827
23	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	65.098
24	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	64.803
25	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	64.729
26	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	64.365
27	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	64.109
28	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	63.441
29	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	62.705
30	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	61.974
31	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	61.849
32	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	61.456
33	Honduras`HND`Central America	61.142
34	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	61.045
35	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	60.873
36	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	60.781
37	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	60.551
38	Panama`PAN`Central America	60.421
39	Paraguay`PRY`South America	59.798
40	Peru`PER`South America	59.096
41	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	58.766
42	Colombia`COL`South America	57.145
43	Venezuela`VEN`South America	56.701
44	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	56.253
45	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	55.350
46	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	54.745
47	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	54.125
48	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	53.992
49	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	53.212
50	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	52.583
51	Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	52.222
52	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	52.059
53	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	51.756
54	Bolivia`BOL`South America	51.613
55	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	50.935
56	Ecuador`ECU`South America	50.574
57	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	49.404
58	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	48.115
59	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	47.833
60	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	47.360
61	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	46.684
62	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	46.447
63	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	46.285
64	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	46.261
65	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	45.724
66	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	44.702
67	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	44.444
68	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	42.308
69	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	41.819
70	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	41.500
71	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	41.405
72	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	40.881
73	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	40.306
74	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	40.250
75	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	40.197
76	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	40.054
77	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	39.691
78	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	39.537
79	Canada`CAN`Northern America	38.809
80	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	38.534
81	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	38.485
82	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	37.399
83	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	37.117
84	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	37.009
85	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	36.908
86	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	36.865
87	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	36.284
88	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	36.245
89	Mexico`MEX`Central America	35.518
90	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	35.426
91	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	34.570
92	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	34.100
93	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	34.043
94	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	34.023
95	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	33.985
96	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	33.485
97	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	33.333
98	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	33.180
99	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	33.175
100	United States`USA`Northern America	33.105
101	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	32.482
102	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	32.310
103	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	31.868
104	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	31.718
105	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	30.377
106	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	29.938
107	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	29.403
108	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	28.622
109	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	28.290
110	France`FRA`Western Europe	27.892
111	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	27.870
112	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	27.741
113	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	27.661
114	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	27.305
115	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	27.228
116	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	26.924
117	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	26.037
118	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	24.986
119	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	24.547
120	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	24.414
121	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	23.836
122	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	23.103
123	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	22.749
124	India`IND`Southern Asia	22.365
125	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	21.927
126	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	21.619
127	Chile`CHL`South America	21.042
128	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	21.036
129	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	20.528
130	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	18.748
131	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	18.621
132	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	18.519
133	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	18.232
134	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	18.219
135	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	17.239
136	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	16.667
137	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	16.449
138	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	16.293
139	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	14.752
140	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	14.745
141	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	14.651
142	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	13.989
143	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	13.836
144	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	13.552
145	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	12.431
146	Argentina`ARG`South America	12.397
147	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	12.346
148	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	12.324
149	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	11.998
150	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	11.992
151	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	11.710
152	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	11.706
153	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	11.168
154	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	11.074
155	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	10.897
156	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	10.523
157	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	10.289
158	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	10.048
159	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	9.235
160	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	8.782
161	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	8.516
162	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	8.416
163	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	8.044
164	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	6.906
165	Uruguay`URY`South America	6.843
166	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	6.779
167	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	6.671
168	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	6.087
169	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	6.070
170	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	6.037
171	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	5.680
172	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	5.135
173	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	4.253
174	Channel Islands`CHI`Northern Europe	4.192
175	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	4.085
176	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	2.925
177	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	2.733
178	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	2.333
179	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	2.253
180	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	1.861
181	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	1.853
182	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	1.508
183	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	1.457
184	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1.195
185	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	1.170
186	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	1.137
187	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	1.105
188	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	1.094
189	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	1.040
190	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.674
191	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.458
192	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.454
193	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.425
194	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.259
195	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.249
196	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.242
197	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.123
198	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	0.057
199	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.055
200	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.010
201	Greenland`GRL`Northern America	0.001
=202	Gibraltar`GIB`Southern Europe	0.000
=202	Monaco`MCO`Western Europe	0.000
=202	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	0.000
=202	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.000

02In 1997

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Suriname95.646
2Guyana94.364
3Equatorial Guinea94.141
4Gabon92.050
5Micronesia91.109

Lowest

202Qatarshared0.000
202Naurushared0.000
202Monacoshared0.000
202Gibraltarshared0.000
201Greenland0.001

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 31.868. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031996 → 1997

Since 1996

What changed between 1996 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
169values changed, of 205 in both
68 · 101rose · fell
36unchanged

Rose most

Puerto Rico43.475 → 44.702+1.227
Dominican Republic37.703 → 38.485+0.782
Vietnam33.245 → 33.985+0.740
Spain31.672 → 32.310+0.639
Cabo Verde7.440 → 8.044+0.604

Fell most

United States Virgin Islands63.137 → 61.974−1.163
Indonesia59.719 → 58.766−0.953
Côte d’Ivoire19.487 → 18.621−0.867
Nicaragua48.191 → 47.360−0.831
Myanmar56.015 → 55.350−0.666

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from FAO’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1997.
202 distinct values among 205
Values are stored exactly as published, to 18 decimals. 4 countries share 0.000. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
FAO publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 205 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
205 rows · 7.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download forest-area-1997-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
FAO’s own file, on its own site.
AG.LND.FRST.ZS

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (1997). Forest Area, 1997 [data set], describing 1997. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/forest-area/1997

0634 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Forest Area, 1996
205 countries
The year after ›
Forest Area, 1998
205 countries
All of them
Forest Area: every year
34 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions

Forest Area, 1997: questions and answers

Which country has the highest forest area in Forest Area, 1997?

Suriname, at 95.646, of the 205 countries in the file.

What year does Forest Area, 1997 describe?

1997.

How many countries does Forest Area, 1997 cover?

205.

Where can I download Forest Area, 1997?

On this page, as a CSV file holding every value exactly as published, or from the publisher’s own site, linked below.

Is Forest Area, 1997 the newest?

No. The newest held here is Forest Area, 2023.

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