Mountainous Area
Mountainous Area by country
Commentary
Notable countries
Monaco and Andorra jointly rank first, with 100% of their land classified as mountainous, followed closely by Bhutan at 98.8%. At the other end, several countries record 0%, including Bahrain, Singapore, Qatar, Kuwait, Barbados, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Kiribati, Tonga, and Tuvalu. A notable surprise is Lesotho: at 90.5%, it stands out not only globally but also far above Africa’s continental average.
Regional trends
Asia has the highest continental average at 45.16%, indicating a strong concentration of mountainous terrain across the region. Europe (39.18%) and North America (38.3%) also sit above the global mean of 35.18, while Oceania (32.11%) and South America (31.04%) are somewhat lower. Africa has the lowest average at 23.36%, despite having one of the world’s most mountainous countries in Lesotho.
Data source
The figures come from UNEP-WCMC / FAO 2020 and are measured as the percentage of each country’s land area that is mountainous. The dataset covers 196 countries. As a caveat, this is a land-share measure, so very small states can rank extremely high or low based on their terrain profile.
Interpretation
Higher values mean a larger share of a country’s territory is mountainous, which can reflect dramatic landscapes and important water and biodiversity resources. Lower values indicate flatter terrain or low-lying island geography rather than better or worse overall development conditions. Overall, the data show very wide variation between countries, with mountainous terrain heavily concentrated in parts of Asia and Europe but absent in several island and Gulf states.