Queen Elizabeth II (now King Charles III) was considered the largest single landowner, controlling about one-sixth of the Earth's land (6.6 billion acres), not personally, but through the Crown Estate and Commonwealth realms like Canada and Australia, though much of this is held in trust or by governments, with the Roman Catholic Church and governments being the largest landowners overall.
The Pope, as head of the Catholic Church, is linked to around 177million acres globally, including churches, schools and missions. King Mohammed VI of Morocco also ranks highly, with holdings of 175million acres. Among non-royals, Gina Rinehart, Australia's richest woman, is the largest private individual landowner.
Reports estimate the monarchy controls about 16% of Earth's land, roughly 6.6 billion acres spread across multiple continents. Most of this land is not privately owned, but held under the Crown Estate and royal duchies during the monarch's reign.
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.
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.
Occupied Royal Palaces, such as Buckingham Palace, are not the private property of The Queen. They are occupied by the Sovereign and held in trust by Crown Estates for future generations. The Queen privately owns two properties, Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House, which are not publicly funded.
Gina Rinehart is often cited as Australia's largest private landowner, controlling millions of hectares through her Hancock Prospecting and other interests, primarily for mining and cattle, but ownership is complex with vast areas held under lease and significant land also owned by large corporations like the Australian Agricultural Company and First Nations groups, notes The Guardian and A-Z Animals.
The only land held by the Commonwealth consists of land in the Northern Territory (surrendered by South Australia), the Australian Capital Territory, Jervis Bay Territory, and small areas acquired for airports, defence and other government purposes.
The Emmersons became America's largest landowners in 2021 when they acquired 175,000 acres in Oregon from Seneca Timber Company.
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.
The government (together with its QUANGOs) is the biggest land owner by area, the Forestry Commission owning some 2,200,000 acres (890,000 ha), the MoD 1,101,851 acres (445,903 ha), the Crown Estate 678,420 acres (274,550 ha), DEFRA 116,309 acres (47,069 ha) and Homes England 19,349 acres (7,830 ha).
It's not just British currency which features the late monarch's image. Her face still features on the currency of 35 countries worldwide, more than any other monarch. These countries include Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand, and Cyprus where she appears on notes and coins as head of the Commonwealth.
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%).
Rural portfolio
Consisting of around 106,000 hectares (263,000 acres) across the UK, they also include 26,900 hectares (66,500 acres) of common land, principally in Wales. Rights to extract minerals covers some 115,500 hectares (285,500 acres).
Vatican insiders suggest that his net worth largely stems from royalties, donations, and access to a discretionary fund of $385,000 per year as head of the Roman Catholic Church.
At the top are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) and the Catholic Church in Australia, each boasting an estimated net worth of $265 billion — a reflection of their vast global assets, organizational reach, and effective financial management.
Bill and Melinda are members of the Catholic Church and have said that religious morality inspires their charity work. Though the couple are now divorced as of 2021, they continue to collaborate on philanthropic work with the foundation. Some objectives that the foundation supports include: Disease prevention.
The 80/20 rule (Pareto Principle) in churches states that roughly 20% of members do 80% of the ministry work, leading to volunteer burnout and an imbalance, with many church leaders viewing it as a problem of under-engagement, while others see it as a symptom of poor discipleship or a need to expand opportunities for everyone to serve, not just the "faithful few". Strategies to address this focus on creating clear "on-ramps" for service, training more volunteers, limiting key roles, and focusing on empowering all members to participate in God's work, rather than relying solely on a small core group.
Around 80,000 Australians had over $2 million in superannuation as of 2019-2020 data, with estimates suggesting this number might be higher now due to asset growth, potentially affecting around 80,000 people with balances over $3 million by 2025. While most with high balances are older, some young individuals (under 30) also hold over $2 million in super.
No, Queen Mary (formerly Princess Mary) of Denmark is not currently in Australia as of late 2025; her most recent reported visits were private family trips, particularly around late 2024/early 2025, but she resides in Denmark and performs royal duties there, with recent reports mentioning potential future visits for events like the Women Deliver conference in Melbourne in 2026.
Iron ore magnate Rinehart has topped the Rich List for the sixth year in a row, but the falling iron ore price has hit the valuation of her Hancock Prospecting, wiping around $2b off her estimated net worth.
As at 30 June 2024, 4,314,744 square kilometres of the land mass of Australia and 113,517 square kilometres of the sea country of Australia were subject to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's rights or interests (figure CtG15. 1).
Topping the list is Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart, whose agricultural assets – through S Kidman and Co and Hancock Agriculture – are now valued around $2 billion. According to The Australian's recent rich list, Rinehart has a wealth of about $46.34 billion.
The Zammit family case has become emblematic in Australia. In the midst of a city in constant transformation, the gesture of keeping the land intact has become synonymous with cultural preservation and family identity. While skyscrapers and modern developments multiply around it, the house remains standing.