2026-05-19 · percent of Earth's land
Mining disturbs a small share of land — locally huge
Global pits and tailings are tiny on a world map — but toxic at the watershed scale.
Global pits and tailings are tiny on a world map — but toxic at the watershed scale. This grid divides land surface (2026 snapshot) into colored bands — Active + legacy mining, Asia & Pacific, and 2 more groups — using equal squares so you compare shares, not country size on a map.
1 cell = 0.1 percent of Earth's land (0.1% of land surface) · 1,000 cells
Context
The 2026 figures from OWID — Environmental impacts of mining put Asia & Pacific at 51.6% of land surface and Africa at 27.8%.
UNEP / Miatto et al.
global mining land footprint <1%, rounded.
UNEP / Miatto et al. global mining land footprint <1%, rounded.
Share and export
Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-05-19-mining-land