Landmines:
update 1999
Facts and figures
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Countries that sign the treaty promise that:
How many landmines are in the ground?
It is impossible to get accurate information. Estimates range widely from
60 million to 200 million.
From 1993 to 1998, 17 countries gave around $640 million to clear landmines
around the world.
Most of this money was spent in: Afghanistan, Mozambique, Cambodia, Bosnia
and Angola.
In the mid 1990's, the United Nations and the US government estimated that around 2.5 million new mines were being planted every year, but only about 80,000 mines were being cleared every year.
However, in 1998, the US government estimated that more landmines were removed than were planted.
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Africa
Asia-Pacific
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Americas
Europe/Central Asia*
Middle East/North Africa
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* Landmines have also been used in the conflict in Kosovo.
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The Americas
Middle East & North Africa
Europe, the Caucasus & Central Asia
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Sub-Saharan Africa
East & South Asia & the Pacific
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Production |
Export |
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Countries that are still producing landmines:
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There is no evidence that any countries are still exporting antipersonnel mines now. 34 countries used to export mines. Of these 34 countries, every country except Iraq has either:
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More than 250 million antipersonnel mines are being stored
by 108 countries.
These stores are called "stockpiles".
So far, more than 12 million stockpiled mines have been destroyed.
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Countries with the biggest stockpiles
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Countries that have destroyed all their mines*
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19 more countries that have signed the treaty are now destroying their mines,
and others are making plans to do this.
Some other countries, like the USA and Russia, are also destroying large numbers
of mines.
* Even countries that destroy all their antipersonnel mines are allowed
to keep some mines for "live training" - that is, training people
how to find, remove and destroy landmines.
The numbers of mines these countries keep should be as small as possible; however,
many countries plan to keep 1,000 - 5,000 mines or more: e.g. Japan plans to
keep 15,000.
The information on this page is taken from the Landmine Monitor Report
1999
produced by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines
http://www.icbl.org
© 1999: Human Rights Watch
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Last Modified: 9 July 1999