According to the World Database on Protected Areas, 11.6% of the Earth's surface is under somesort of conservation protection like national parks. A total of 10.9% of all the Earth (water and land) is protected. The last twenty years has seen a large rise in protected areas (8.7 to 11.6 for land and 7.9 to 10.9 for all the planet). That is an impressive number when one remembers that there are 6.7 billion people in the world and the first national park was established in 1872.
The World Database on Protected Areas has a very handy interactive map which displays national and international sites as well as links for more information.
For trivia sake, Comoros and Djibouti are have the least protected amount of land (as a percentage) with no land reservation programs what so ever. Venezuela is the most protected country with 53.75% of its land protected. In 1990 only 39.26% was protected.
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