Environment > Marine areas under protection: Countries Compared

Author: Ian Graham, Staff Editor

Ocean scientists estimate that there are at least 10 million undiscovered plant and animal species living in the ocean. In volume terms, 95 percent of the ocean has never been explored and almost all of the biological samples taken from the ocean come from the shallower half. <p>Scientists know very little about the oceanâ€™s deeper portions, especially those more than 650 feet (200 meters) below the surface, which is the depth to which sunlight penetrates. Beyond this depth, photosynthesis cannot take place. <p>The deepest recorded ocean depth is 36,201 feet (11,034 meters) and the deepest manned submersible dive was 35,800 feet (10,911 meters) into the Mariana trench by the submersible â€œTriesteâ€ in 1960.

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DEFINITION: Protected marine areas under IUCN management categories I - VI (1992-2003).

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CONTENTS

MAP
PIE
INTERESTING
Q+A

#	COUNTRY	AMOUNT	DATE
1	United States	229	2003
2	Canada	109	2003
=3	Indonesia	95	2003
=3	United Kingdom	95	2003
	Group of 7 countries (G7) average (profile)	91.67	2003
=5	France	70	2003
=5	Brazil	70	2003
7	New Zealand	67	2003
8	Malaysia	63	2003
9	India	60	2003
10	Denmark	52	2003
11	Sweden	46	2003
12	Cuba	43	2003
13	Mexico	34	2003
14	China	30	2003
15	Italy	28	2003
16	Spain	27	2003
=17	Argentina	26	2003
=17	Chile	26	2003
	Emerging markets average (profile)	22.5	2003
	NATO countries average (profile)	22.23	2003
19	South Africa	20	2003
20	Japan	19	2003
21	Thailand	18	2003
=22	Portugal	16	2003
=22	Venezuela	16	2003
=24	Turkey	14	2003
=24	Costa Rica	14	2003
=24	Russia	14	2003
=27	Croatia	13	2003
=27	Sri Lanka	13	2003
29	Egypt	12	2003
=30	Belize	11	2003
=30	Colombia	11	2003
=30	Kenya	11	2003
=33	Netherlands	10	2003
=33	Norway	10	2003
=33	Panama	10	2003
=33	Greece	10	2003
=33	Ukraine	10	2003
=33	Honduras	10	2003
39	Papua New Guinea	9	2003
40	Israel	8	2003
=41	Philippines	7	2003
=41	Albania	7	2003
=41	Vietnam	7	2003
=41	Romania	7	2003
=45	Senegal	6	2003
=45	Trinidad and Tobago	6	2003
=45	Mozambique	6	2003
=48	The Gambia	5	2003
=48	Iceland	5	2003
=50	Morocco	4	2003
=50	Suriname	4	2003
=50	Peru	4	2003
=50	Angola	4	2003
=50	Algeria	4	2003
=50	Uruguay	4	2003
=50	Nicaragua	4	2003
=50	Poland	4	2003
=50	Namibia	4	2003
=59	Libya	3	2003
=59	Finland	3	2003
=59	Bangladesh	3	2003
=59	Ireland	3	2003
=59	Estonia	3	2003
=59	Mauritania	3	2003
=59	Lithuania	3	2003
=59	Saudi Arabia	3	2003
=59	Guatemala	3	2003
=59	Azerbaijan	3	2003
=59	Cote d'Ivoire	3	2003
=70	Cameroon	2	2003
=70	Madagascar	2	2003
=70	El Salvador	2	2003
=70	Fiji	2	2003
=70	Pakistan	2	2003
=70	Oman	2	2003
=70	Gabon	2	2003
=70	Jamaica	2	2003
=70	Latvia	2	2003
=70	Belgium	2	2003
=70	Kuwait	2	2003
=70	Tunisia	2	2003
=82	Turkmenistan	1	2003
=82	Liberia	1	2003
=82	Georgia	1	2003
=82	Lebanon	1	2003
=82	Sudan	1	2003
=82	Cambodia	1	2003
=82	Slovenia	1	2003
=82	Solomon Islands	1	2003
=82	Somalia	1	2003
=82	Bulgaria	1	2003
=82	Burundi	1	2003
=82	Democratic Republic of the Congo	1	2003
=82	Kazakhstan	1	2003
=82	Burma	1	2003

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