An estimated 45-50 million landmines infest at least 200,000 square kilometers of land in nearly 80 countries around the world. The effects are devastating for individuals, communities, and countries.
Landmines:
- kill or maim a reported 10,000 people annually
- create millions of refugees or internally displaced people
- prevent use of hundreds of thousands of sq. km. of agricultural land
- prevent travel on thousands of km. of roads
- create food scarcities
- deny access to potable water
- interrupt health care
- inflict long-term physical and psychological trauma on landmine victims
- hinder economic development
- undermine political stability
The threat of landmines to a population can increase as population grows and previously unused land is needed for housing, agriculture, or passage.
Additional information about landmine threats, as well as humanitarian demining efforts, can be found in the following reports:
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A man moves his cattle through a cleared minefield in Cambodia; white stakes record where landmines were found.
A village in Cambodia sits at the edge of a minefield, now cleared. |
