Who owns the most private land on our planet

[malaise]

This will surprise many

https://www.lovemoney.com/gallerylist/70168/revealed-the-worlds-biggest-private-landowners

[True Dough]

1. #1 seems obvious now that I looked at the article

but I wasn't guessing that going in.


Fascinating trivia. Thanks for posting, malaise!

[malaise]

2. True even here in non-Catholic Jamaica

[Igel]

23. Of course.

There are catholic churches all over.

Problem with this kind of enumeration is that it includes Vatican City and embassies (not private, unless the entire country is "private&quot . It also has the problem that in many countries churches and lands are held by local incorporated bodies--so in some countries each church or parish owns its church(es), in others its by diocese. This is one estimate, and assumes that if it's "Catholic" it's owned by the private Catholic Church, Inc.

In some ways it's a dictatorship, but few would want to argue that Holness is the owner of Jamaica, Inc.

Ownership, like possession, is a squishy kind of thing, with many kinds of possession in many sorts of legally and culturally prescribed structures with varying, again culturally prescribed, requirements and rights.

[malaise]

29. Good point

but the Catholic Church is still filthy rich

[Wounded Bear]

20. I'm pretty sure #1 has been the same for decades, if not centuries...

[Blue_true]

60. Centuries. nt

[Newest Reality]

47. It's a lot of land...

I did some math on the Catholic Churches holdings and the total amount owned equals about 276,449 square miles, (if I have it right) and that equals about 10,000 more square miles than the State of Texas which is 266, 853 square miles.

That's a lot, spread out or not.

[True Dough]

59. Great perspective

Probably not a lot of big belt buckles or steer horns among the Catholic clergy though.

[Hortensis]

50. First guess, but only a guess and no #2. Thanks, Malaise!

[FBaggins]

3. Depends on how you define "owns"

And also in whether you measure in acres or dollars.

By acres and effective control I would have guessed lumber companies. But much/most of their land is technically government owned

[Meadowoak]

4. Does the Catholic Church pay taxes on that land? Doubt it.

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Looks like about 20 people own all of Australia.

[malaise]

6. 'That really surprised me

along with the #2 spot for the Inuit people of Nunavut (which gave me much pleasure)

[marlakay]

55. Have to say with all the bad news

It felt good to read that. Once in awhile the right thing is done! Yay!

[Igel]

22. And in 33 years just one will.

Everybody else on the continent will have to stand on the beach, heading up and down as the tide comes in and out so as to keep their feet wet but not drown. Or pay rent of one kidney per week, perhaps best saved for when superstorm typhoons make landfall.

[Stuart G]

7. Great Post, Thank You for posting...K and R nt

[panader0]

8. Fascinating stuff.

Rec'd.

[hlthe2b]

9. I'd like to see a similar article cover who owns the world's water rights...

Something that scares the bejeebus out of me (or certainly would even more if I had kids/grandkids).

[malaise]

11. I'd love to see that one

[Glorfindel]

10. What an interesting list! Thank you, malaise...

I would have expected more entries from Africa, the Middle East (all that sand!), and India, if anyone had asked me to guess. It does stand to reason, though. The Roman Catholic Church has had plenty of time to acquire its holdings.

[malaise]

12. Lots of surprises here

Australia stands out

[Hoyt]

13. If you don't like neighbors, Australia is the place to be.

[paleotn]

14. They're all Australians....

Other than the Pope, a Chinese dairy farm and the Inuit in Canada. I suppose if you ranch a desert, where every other plant and animal will kill you, ya gotta have thousands of square miles to make it pay.

[malaise]

30. You left out the king of Swaziland

and quite a few folks from Argentina

[Mira]

15. Utterly fascinating

though I could not for the life of me find a single friend or relative on the list. I kept scrolling with my jaw dropping increasingly. I was quite curious where Ted Turner would be, and I also thought that Jane Fonda would have at least gotten Utah in the settlement.
Thank you Malaise. I was not surprised at the Catholic Church being the "winner".

[TexasBushwhacker]

53. One word

Prenup

[Beringia]

16. Women, only the Queen and some other Australian woman

well also some women family members.

[eppur_se_muova]

17. My immediate guess for #1 was the Roman Catholic Church.

The last outpost of the Roman Empire, and in some ways more successful than the original.

The other top entries demonstrate that quantity and quality are two very different things -- several own land in the Australian interior, where it takes enormous amounts of land to support livestock because of the scarcity of rain, and hence, vegetation. A comparison of the $$$ value of landholdings would probably look pretty different.

[Wounded Bear]

21. I like to refer to the Catholic Church as the first multinational corporation...nt

[malaise]

33. That is 100% accurate

[Wounded Bear]

36. They were the prototype...

when the first major nation state in Western Europe (Rome) failed, they engineered a way to maintain power and influence in a more politically divided continent. Then they went global.

[eppur_se_muova]

45. An insightful way to think of it. nt

[moreland01]

18. For fence-sitters

For any of you sitting on the fence about whether to renew your Catholic card (which I gave up the minute I moved out of my parent's house), just think about this. Perhaps if the church spent their collection basket riches on helping the poor instead of buying up land and paying off the victims of sex abuse by priests, they could make a huge dent in the problem of poverty and hunger around the world.

Perhaps you thought that by throwing your hard earned money on the collection plate you were indirectly (or maybe even directly) helping the world's impoverished. Nope. Are you cool with what the church does with your donations?

I'm so fucking glad I got out when I did (1982) and didn't spend my life tithing to that despicable organization.

[rpannier]

27. We go almost every week

Lived in Korea, now Japan
In Korea, my money went toward the Syrian refugees that are being housed on church property and went toward the poor during the financial crisis of the late 90's and 2000's. All the clergy in Korea gave up 2/3 of their monthly salary and that went toward the needs of the poor in places like Incheon, Seoul, Busan and the rural areas, like No-dong, Beolgyo, etc.
The clergy and nuns were also one of the catalysts, biggest supporters and defenders of the pro-Democracy movement in the 80's. The Cathedral in Myeong-dong protected pro-Democracy demonstrators (mostly university and high school students) from the police and military. In 1987, there was the likelihood that the military was planning to storm the Cathedral, the Cardinal, the priests and nuns came to the cathedral to shield the students
Cardinal Kim Su-hwan organized the human shields. The military decided not to make the effort

[Enoki33]

28. Don't quote me, but l seem to recall reading they owned over 700

hospitals in this country. In terms of total assets GM and Toyota are outranked. They do not even pay property taxes.

[malaise]

34. I got out long before you

[Fla Dem]

19. Incredible! 35 Million Hectares 135,136 square miles

Last edited Sun Aug 11, 2019, 12:26 PM - Edit history (1)

Just as a comparison.........

[malaise]

39. A whole lot of land

One of my relatives was talking about his two acres recently

[Newest Reality]

49. Maybe somebody can double check this...

but this is what I got as a comparison by doing conversions:

Jeff Bezos of Amazon: 162,000 hectares in West Texas which is 625 square miles, (about half the size of Rhode Island).

Koch brothers: 542,000 hectares = 2092.6737 square miles, (about the size of Delaware).

Of course, (smirk) just where did the first, original deed for the land come from? Oh...

[Fla Dem]

56. Not sure what you want doubled checked. But....

Here is a converter you can use for Hectares to Sq miles.

https://www.asknumbers.com/hectare-to-square-mile.aspx

If it's the size of the states, here's a link you can use.

https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/national-us/uncategorized/states-size

[Newest Reality]

58. Oh, thank you.

I did use online sources for the info, just wanted to be accurate on the calculations for the hectares/sq. miles.

I think it was right.

Lots of land, though. This land is your land, this land is my land? Yeah, right.

[Takket]

24. I couldn't believe scrolling through this...

How often Australia pops up! Especially in the top 20 or so. Seems only 40 people own the whole country!

[TNNurse]

25. Anyone else notice the absence of one name.

Trump.

[Nitram]

32. Trump is known for owning real estate in NYC. A square foot of land in Manhattan is worth $1,773.

Compare that with, for example, the landowners in Australia who own huge swaths of very unproductive land. The amount of land you own is not necessity the best indicator of wealth. It depends on the land and what is on it.

[malaise]

35. He'll soon attack this

I actually said wait no Con!

[BobTheSubgenius]

26. While this one holding is nowhere near vast - only 209 acres

it is still one of the most impressive. The eye-popping 200 acres owned by the Duke Of Westminster is in the heart of London. In that area, a 100 pound note won't buy the amount of land it covers.

[malaise]

38. That's prime real estate land right there

[FM123]

31. Very interesting, thank you!

While some names were to be expected like the Koch brothers, Jeff Bezos, Queen Elizabeth etc - there was one that totally took me by surprise: I watched a cooking show on Food Network a few times called Pioneer Woman where a lady named Ree Drummond cooks down home dishes on a ranch in Oklahoma - I never realized her family owned so much property that they made it to this world-wide list.

[malaise]

37. That is interesting

I didn't make the connection with Ree Drummond

[bobbieinok]

40. Commenter to list asks good question--what is the source of this info???

Just an extremely interesting list with no support.

Was surprised at how much land in Maine is owned by just a few people.

[malaise]

51. It's a reasonable question

A source is always helpful

[Ferrets are Cool]

41. The first thing that I noticed is that a LOT of this land was stolen

(appropriated) from the indigenous peoples. Ownership often goes to the one with the largest army.

[malaise]

42. Ding ding we have a winner

and only the Inuit got theirs back

[Ferrets are Cool]

43. Only because the Canadians are a pretty damn

good country...or the Inuit had some great lawyers.

[malaise]

44. LOL

[Disaffected]

54. And,

most of the land is barren, remote, cold and unproductive i.e. no-one else, save a diamond mine company or two, wants it.

[Wounded Bear]

57. Or the best flag...

[CrispyQ]

46. Fascinating.

Thanks.

[zackymilly]

48. In the end all you need is an 8 x 3 x 6 foot deep piece of land.

Unless you want cremation.

[malaise]

52. Actually in the end it's all you'll get

unless you want cremation or some other way of disposal.

[Blue_true]

62. Well, you do get one set of clothes, shoes and maybe socks or stockings.

[Blue_true]

61. And you don't have to worry about anything else, because you will take

NOTHING with you. We were born with nothing on and leave clothed, only by the grace of others. Beyond the clothes, we leave with nothing.