Where The World Is Burning In 2026
As of August 1, 2026, wildfires and landscape fires have burned 112.3 million hectares of land across the globe, an area roughly the size of South Africa.
This visualization, via Visual Capitalist's Sofie Gilbert, uses data from the Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS) via Our World in Data to show where that burning is concentrated in 2026 as of August 1.
The data includes prescribed burns, agricultural burns, and uncontrolled wildfires.
Africa Is the Epicenter of Global Fire Activity
More than half of the world’s burned land so far in 2026 is in Africa.
The data table below shows the land area burned for every country as of August 1, 2026:
RankCountry or TerritoryArea Burned in Hectares
(YTD to Aug 1, 2026)ShareRegion
1🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of Congo13,611,12612.1%Africa
2🇦🇺 Australia11,801,65010.5%Oceania
3🇦🇴 Angola7,473,0346.7%Africa
4🇸🇸 South Sudan6,955,0226.2%Africa
5🇨🇫 Central African Republic6,017,8815.4%Africa
6🇲🇲 Myanmar4,325,7023.9%Asia
7🇮🇳 India4,029,7043.6%Asia
8🇷🇺 Russia3,335,0293.0%Europe
9🇬🇳 Guinea3,250,9922.9%Africa
10🇿🇲 Zambia3,213,6872.9%Africa
11🇻🇪 Venezuela2,977,4662.7%South America
12🇳🇬 Nigeria2,807,2002.5%Africa
13🇹🇭 Thailand2,669,5502.4%Asia
14🇱🇦 Laos2,641,3212.4%Asia
15🇺🇸 United States2,371,2072.1%North America
16🇨🇳 China2,265,0572.0%Asia
17🇨🇦 Canada2,031,7541.8%North America
18🇧🇷 Brazil2,030,2091.8%South America
19🇪🇹 Ethiopia1,851,1311.6%Africa
20🇬🇭 Ghana1,763,3951.6%Africa
21🇰🇭 Cambodia1,525,3121.4%Asia
22🇲🇱 Mali1,490,6981.3%Africa
23🇨🇲 Cameroon1,435,3731.3%Africa
24🇹🇩 Chad1,309,1551.2%Africa
25🇲🇽 Mexico1,264,8231.1%North America
26🇸🇩 Sudan1,203,1581.1%Africa
27🇸🇳 Senegal1,187,5911.1%Africa
28🇹🇿 Tanzania1,048,6630.9%Africa
29🇨🇴 Colombia891,9850.8%South America
30🇲🇿 Mozambique787,0660.7%Africa
31🇿🇦 South Africa784,6470.7%Africa
32🇸🇱 Sierra Leone731,5350.7%Africa
33🇲🇬 Madagascar687,0860.6%Africa
34🇨🇬 Congo677,3540.6%Africa
35🇧🇫 Burkina Faso553,7190.5%Africa
36🇧🇴 Bolivia546,4900.5%South America
37🇦🇷 Argentina545,3040.5%South America
38🇺🇬 Uganda519,6010.5%Africa
39🇮🇩 Indonesia488,3650.4%Asia
40🇨🇮 Cote d'Ivoire451,5270.4%Africa
41🇰🇿 Kazakhstan429,5200.4%Asia
42🇵🇾 Paraguay405,6690.4%South America
43🇧🇯 Benin343,4160.3%Africa
44🇭🇳 Honduras320,8840.3%North America
45🇨🇱 Chile304,9830.3%South America
46🇻🇳 Vietnam283,6380.3%Asia
47🇵🇭 Philippines237,1680.2%Asia
48🇵🇬 ...
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