The British Crown (King Charles III) is the world's largest single landowner, controlling vast territories through the Commonwealth, followed by large entities like the Catholic Church, Indigenous groups like the Inuit of Nunavut, and major private owners such as Australia's Gina Rinehart, owning vast ranches and mines. While governments own most land overall, these figures represent the biggest non-governmental or private holdings, often encompassing forests, agricultural land, and valuable urban real estate.
The largest landowner in the world currently is King Charles III of England. How much land does the Royal Family own? He and the British Royal Family own more than 6,600,000,000 acres of land around the world. They technically own many territories around the globe, amounting to 1/6 of the surface of the planet.
Roman Catholic Church is the largest landowner in the world; it owns around 70 million hectares of land.
The British Royal Family is often described as the world's largest landholder, with King Charles III overseeing vast assets managed through the Crown Estate. Reports estimate that land linked to the monarchy covers around 16% of the Earth's surface, about 6.6 billion acres across multiple continents.
The Government of India, Catholic Church, and Waqf Board are the largest landowners with vast holdings in education and healthcare. For centuries, land has symbolised power, prestige, and survival.
The Emmersons became America's largest landowners in 2021 when they acquired 175,000 acres in Oregon from Seneca Timber Company.
India has the largest waqf holding in the World. Further, Waqf Board is the largest landowner in India after the Armed Forces and the Indian Railways. Q. 7 How many Waqf Estates are registered under Waqf Board?
The House of Saud, which is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia, is reportedly the wealthiest family of the globe. Surpassing the combined fortunes of high-profile billionaires like Elon Musk, Mukesh Ambani, Adani, Narayana Murthy combined.
According to The Land Report's Top 100 Largest Landowners list, the largest private landowner in the United States is the Emmerson family, which owns and operates Sierra Pacific Industries, one of the largest lumber producers in the country.
Under our legal system, the Monarch (currently King Charles III), as head of state, owns the superior interest in all land in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In most cases, this is usually irrelevant but it can become relevant if a freehold property becomes ownerless.
Global. According to a study from 2015, Christians hold the largest amount of wealth (55% of the total world wealth), followed by Muslims (5.8%), Hindus (3.3%), and Jews (1.1%).
Yes, non-Jews can purchase land in Israel, but only private land which represents 7% of the country's total territory. Private land is concentrated in major urban centers including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Be'er Sheva, Netanya, and Raanana. These purchases face no religious or nationality restrictions whatsoever.
The 2020 global percentage of adherents by religion.
Red Emmerson and his family are the largest landowners in the U.S., with 2.4 million acres. Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Bill Gates owns the most farmland in the U.S., with over 260,000 acres in private agricultural land.
Qin Yinglin (Chinese: 秦英林; pinyin: Qín Yīnglín, born 1965) is a Chinese agriculture tycoon, billionaire, Communist Party member, and the world's richest farmer. He is the Chair and president of the pig farming company Muyuan Foodstuff and is one of the richest people in China. According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, ...
Who is the largest private landowner in the UK? In terms of individuals, Anders Holch Povlsen, a Danish fashion magnate, owns over 220,000 acres in Scotland, making him the UK's largest private landowner.
China owns 384,000 acres of American agricultural land. That's a 30% increase just since 2019. And on top of that, they own land near an air force base in North Dakota.
Land is owned in Canada by governments, Indigenous groups, corporations, and individuals. Canada is the second-largest country in the world by area; with 9,093,507 km2 (3,511,023 sq mi) of land.
Next on the list is the Catholic Church, which is led by the Pope. With an estimated 177 million acres across the globe, the Church's holdings include churches and schools, among others globally. Indigenous peoples are on the third position on the list as they own vast territories through legal agreements.
As of early January 2026, Elon Musk is consistently ranked as the world's richest man, leading lists from Forbes and Bloomberg, with significant wealth derived from Tesla, SpaceX, and his various tech ventures, often holding over $600-$700 billion, followed by tech leaders like Larry Page and Jeff Bezos. His fortune has seen significant growth, making him the first person to reach several multi-hundred-billion-dollar milestones, notes Wikipedia.
The wealthiest dynasties in the world have never been richer — and the Waltons lead the pack with a net worth of $513.4 billion.
Given that there are approximately 2.3 billion acres of land in the U.S., the federal government owns or administers programs on nearly one-third of the country's land -- making it the largest landowner in the U.S. by a very wide margin.
While religious and charitable waqfs are exempt from paying income tax under the Income-Tax Act of 1961, family waqfs are not generally exempt and are required to pay income tax.
The waqf history was started in 12th century by dedicating two villages to Jama Masjid of Multan by Sultan Muhammad Ghori. The Central Waqf Council and State Waqf Boards oversee the management of over 8.72 lakh properties in India.