List of parties to the Ramsar Convention

This is a list of parties contracting to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, also known as the Convention on Wetlands. The convention's mission is "the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world". It calls upon contracting parties to recognize the interdependence of humans and the environment as well as the ecological functions of wetlands, such as wildlife habitat, nutrient cycling, and flood control.

The Ramsar Convention is the oldest multilateral international conservation convention and the only one to deal with one habitat or ecosystem type, wetlands. The convention's headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland, and it works closely with the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The convention was held in the city of Ramsar, Iran, in February 1971 and was originally contracted by seven countries when it came into force on 21 December 1975. , there are 172 contracting parties and 2,526 designated sites covering . All of the contracting parties have designated at least one Ramsar site, and 32 of the contracting countries have only one site. The country with the most sites is the United Kingdom with 175. To become a Ramsar site, a site must be nominated by a contracting country, meet at least one of nine criteria, and undergo scientific review.

Russia, which had 35 Ramsar sites, announced its withdrawal on 22 July 2025.

The table lists the countries contracting to the convention, the entry date of each country to the convention, the number of Ramsar sites in each country, and the total area of all Ramsar sites in each country.

+Ramsar Convention contracting partiesCountryRegionEntry dateThis is the date the Convention came into force for the state, not the date of the ratification of the treaty.Ramsar sitesAreahectaresacresAlbaniaEurope4AlgeriaAfrica50AndorraEurope3AngolaAfrica1Antigua and BarbudaLatin America and the Caribbean1ArgentinaLatin America and the Caribbean24ArmeniaEurope3AustraliaOceania67AustriaEurope26AzerbaijanEurope2BahamasLatin America and the Caribbean1BahrainAsia2BangladeshAsia2BarbadosLatin America and the Caribbean1BelarusEurope26BelgiumEurope9BelizeLatin America and the Caribbean2BeninAfrica4BhutanAsia3Bolivia (Plurinational State of)Latin America and the Caribbean11Bosnia and HerzegovinaEurope3BotswanaAfrica1BrazilLatin America and the Caribbean27BulgariaEurope11Burkina FasoAfrica25BurundiAfrica4CambodiaAsia5CameroonAfrica7CanadaNorth America37Cape VerdeAfrica4Central African RepublicAfrica2ChadAfrica6ChileLatin America and the Caribbean16ChinaAsia82ColombiaLatin America and the Caribbean10ComorosAfrica3CongoAfrica14Costa RicaLatin America and the Caribbean12Côte d'IvoireAfrica6CroatiaEurope5CubaLatin America and the Caribbean6CyprusEurope1Czech RepublicEurope14Democratic People's Republic of KoreaAsia2Democratic Republic of the CongoAfrica4DenmarkEurope43DjiboutiAfrica1Dominican RepublicLatin America and the Caribbean6EcuadorLatin America and the Caribbean19EgyptAfrica4El SalvadorLatin America and the Caribbean8Equatorial GuineaAfrica3EstoniaEurope17EswatiniAfrica3FijiOceania2FinlandEurope49FranceEurope57GabonAfrica9The GambiaAfrica3GeorgiaEurope4GermanyEurope35GhanaAfrica6GreeceEurope10GrenadaLatin America and the Caribbean1GuatemalaLatin America and the Caribbean7GuineaAfrica16Guinea-BissauAfrica4HondurasLatin America and the Caribbean12HungaryEurope29IcelandEurope6IndiaAsia98IndonesiaAsia8Iran (Islamic Republic of)Asia27IraqAsia4IrelandEurope45IsraelEurope2ItalyEurope63JamaicaLatin America and the Caribbean4JapanAsia54JordanAsia2KazakhstanAsia10KenyaAfrica6KiribatiOceania1KuwaitAsia1KyrgyzstanAsia3Lao People's Democratic RepublicAsia2LatviaEurope6LebanonAsia4LesothoAfrica1LiberiaAfrica5LibyaAfrica2LiechtensteinEurope1LithuaniaEurope7LuxembourgEurope2MadagascarAfrica21MalawiAfrica1MalaysiaAsia7MaliAfrica4MaltaEurope2Marshall IslandsOceania2MauritaniaAfrica4MauritiusAfrica3MexicoNorth America144MonacoEurope1MongoliaAsia11MontenegroEurope3MoroccoAfrica38MozambiqueAfrica2MyanmarAsia7NamibiaAfrica5NepalAsia10NetherlandsEurope58New ZealandOceania7NicaraguaLatin America and the Caribbean9NigerAfrica14NigeriaAfrica17North MacedoniaEurope3NorwayEurope63OmanAsia3PakistanAsia19PalauOceania1PanamaLatin America and the Caribbean6Papua New GuineaOceania2ParaguayLatin America and the Caribbean6PeruLatin America and the Caribbean14PhilippinesAsia10PolandEurope19PortugalEurope32Republic of KoreaAsia26Republic of MoldovaEurope3RomaniaEurope20RwandaAfrica1Saint LuciaLatin America and the Caribbean2SamoaOceania3Sao Tome and PrincipeAfrica1Saudi ArabiaAsia1SenegalAfrica9SerbiaEurope(ratified as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)11SeychellesAfrica3Sierra LeoneAfrica1SlovakiaEurope14SloveniaEurope3South AfricaAfrica32South SudanAfrica1SpainEurope76Sri LankaAsia6SudanAfrica4SurinameLatin America and the Caribbean1SwedenEurope68SwitzerlandEurope11Syrian Arab RepublicAsia1TajikistanAsia5ThailandAsia16TogoAfrica4Trinidad and TobagoLatin America and the Caribbean3TunisiaAfrica42TurkeyEurope14TurkmenistanAsia1UgandaAfrica12UkraineEurope50United Arab EmiratesAsia10United KingdomEurope175United Republic of TanzaniaAfrica4United States of AmericaNorth America41UruguayLatin America and the Caribbean3UzbekistanAsia4VanuatuOceania1Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)Latin America and the Caribbean5VietnamAsia9YemenAsia1ZambiaAfrica8ZimbabweAfrica7

See also List of Ramsar sites Ramsar Classification System for Wetland Type Ramsar Convention Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award

References