The U.S. ranks 41st in protected areas

According to the World Resources Institute, as of 2004, 8.4% of the total land area in the United States was designated as a protected area, a percentage that makes the United States tied for forty-first with Japan and Zambia. Venezuela ranked first, with 34.2% of the land protected.

For the planet as a whole, 6.1% of the land is protected.