When we talk about the 10 countries most plagued by landmines, we’re diving into a grim legacy that refuses to fade with the sound of gunfire. These hidden killers linger long after wars end, maiming civilians and turning once‑productive land into dangerous no‑go zones for generations. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines has waged a relentless push to outlaw these weapons, culminating in the 1997 Ottawa Treaty – formally known as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti‑Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. Yet, the United Nations warns that even with today’s best technology, eradicating every buried device could stretch close to 1,100 years.
Why the 10 Countries Most Are Haunted by Landmines
1. Somalia
Landmine Count: 1 million
Somalia’s mine nightmare stems from a patchwork of internal and regional conflicts that spanned almost four decades, with the first recorded planting in 1964. Today, central and southern Somalia are riddled with mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). The UN paints a bleak picture: land once used for livestock and crops is now off‑limits, transport costs have ballooned, development projects stumble, and communities live under the constant threat of death or disability. The socioeconomic ripple effects touch almost every facet of Somali life – from farming to the safety of returning refugees. Yet, the UN also believes the problem is “finite” and could be tackled within a seven‑ to ten‑year window if sustained resources are poured in. Unfortunately, Somalia can’t sign the Mine Ban Treaty because it has lacked a central government since the 1991 overthrow of Siad Barre.
2. Mozambique
Landmine Count: 3 million
After nearly thirty years of civil war, Mozambique sits among Africa’s poorest nations, relying on imported grain and foreign aid. The country battles desertification, water pollution, and erratic droughts and floods, but landmines add a deadly layer of hardship. Mines were scattered across fields and pathways to halt peasants from farming, as documented by Human Rights Watch Africa. Fifteen different nations supplied the explosives, fueling a famine cycle in the 1980s that forced massive refugee flows into South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, and Malawi. Handicap International estimates that 20 people step on mines each month, with a grim 60 % mortality rate due to lack of medical care. In 1996, Mozambique’s defence minister warned of roughly three million mines still lurking, contaminating farms, power lines, roads, bridges, railways, airports, schools, factories, and even cattle dip tanks. Wildlife isn’t spared – elephants have been maimed by anti‑personnel mines and killed by anti‑tank mines. The nation’s average life expectancy hovers around 46 years.
3. Bosnia‑Herzegovina
Landmine Count: 3 million
The breakup of Yugoslavia unleashed a brutal 1992‑1995 conflict that left Bosnia‑Herzegovina littered with mines and explosive remnants of war. While the overall density is low, mines were strewn along shifting front lines that stretched over a 1,100‑kilometre‑long, up‑to‑four‑kilometre‑wide separation zone between the country’s two entities. In many places – especially the fertile Brčko District – mines were laid haphazardly with scant record‑keeping. Each month, 30‑35 civilians lose lives or sustain injuries, 80 % of whom are non‑combatants. The lingering danger hampers reconstruction, slashes food production, and siphons resources away from rebuilding efforts. To date, only a tiny fraction of contaminated land meets humanitarian clearance standards, and many minefields remain unmarked.
4. Kuwait
Landmine Count: 5 million
Kuwait’s oil‑rich sands became a minefield during Iraq’s 1990‑1991 occupation. Iraqi forces sowed millions of anti‑personnel and anti‑tank mines across the “Kuwait Theater of Military Operations,” contaminating roughly 97.8 % of the nation’s territory. The most heavily mined zones stretched along the northern coast of Kuwait Bay and the Kuwait‑Saudi border. Following liberation, Kuwait launched a 24‑month, $128 million integrated mine‑action programme. By April 1999, nearly two million mines had been cleared from coastal and desert areas, and a robust mine‑awareness campaign was rolled out to educate civilians about lingering dangers.
5. Cambodia
Landmine Count: 8‑10 million
Three decades of relentless conflict have scarred Cambodia’s landscape with a staggering 8‑10 million mines. The Khmer Rouge, successive regimes, Vietnamese forces, the KPNLF, and Sihanoukist factions all contributed to the deadly mosaic, often planting devices without any record‑keeping. The result? One of the world’s highest disability rates, with over 40,000 amputations since 1979 – roughly forty victims a week for twenty years. Though no armed groups presently lay mines, civilians sometimes misuse them to protect property or resolve disputes, poachers deploy them against tigers for medicinal markets, and police have even surrounded suspects with mines (a 1998 incident where a suspect stepped on a mine and was subsequently shot). At the current pace, clearing every mine could take up to a century.
6. Iraq
Landmine Count: 10 million
Iraq’s mine nightmare is a tangled legacy of the 1991 Gulf War, the protracted Iran‑Iraq war (1980‑1988), two decades of internal strife, and even remnants from World War II. Mines pepper the north along the Iran border, as well as central and southern regions. While the exact figure is unknown, United Nations estimates place the minimum at ten million. A recent Landmine Impact Survey revealed that every district in three northern governorates is contaminated, with 3,444 distinct mine‑or‑UXO zones affecting over 148,000 families across 1,096 communities – that’s more than one in five residents living under the shadow of explosives.
7. Afghanistan
Landmine Count: 10 million
Since 1978, Afghanistan has been a crucible of conflict, with Soviet forces and the Afghan government (1979‑1992) laying vast swathes of anti‑personnel mines across the nation. Today, farms, grazing lands, irrigation canals, residential zones, roads, and footpaths – both urban and rural – are riddled with hidden death. Each day, ten to twelve Afghans are killed or maimed, and roughly half of the victims succumb to injuries because medical care is scarce. The mines cripple repatriation, relief, rehabilitation, and development, turning everyday activities into high‑risk ventures.
8. Angola
Landmine Count: 10‑20 million
Estimates suggest Angola houses between ten and twenty million mines – roughly one to two mines for every citizen. The United Nations reports about 70,000 amputees resulting from these silent killers. For three decades, mines were strewn across fields, villages, roads, and hidden corners to intimidate, maim, and kill. Their presence chokes the environment, blocks farming, cripples economies, and wreaks havoc on civilian life. Although a 1993 UN resolution called for a moratorium on anti‑personnel mines, the problem persists, leaving Angola’s landscape scarred and its people vulnerable.
9. Iran
Landmine Count: 16 million
Iran’s western and southwestern provinces – Kurdistan, Western Azerbaijan, Khuzestan, and Kermanshah – bear the brunt of the Iran‑Iraq war (1980‑1988). Iraqi forces are alleged to have planted a staggering sixteen million mines across over 42,000 km². These devices cripple agriculture in five border provinces, hamper oil‑field exploitation, and even threaten historic sites, hampering archaeological research. The pervasive contamination continues to hamper livelihoods and development.
10. Egypt
Landmine Count: 23 million
World War II and the trio of Arab‑Israeli wars (1956, 1967, 1973) have left Egypt riddled with an estimated twenty‑three million mines. Most are antiquated, hard‑to‑locate devices designed for tanks rather than people, yet they still claim civilian lives and inflict injuries. Over the past fifteen years, seven million mines have been cleared from the western desert and three million from the Sinai. Still, vast tracts remain, earning the nickname “The Devil’s Garden” among nomadic communities. The lingering threat hampers human and economic development across the nation.
Contributor: rushfan