The 5 largest Landholders in the World
We thought, we would take a different take on this one but trying to find out who are the largest landholders in the world, not landowners, but those who control, hold or has land vested to them due to their position or office. Some of the results were surprising but enlightening to us here at Herdsy HQ!
1# Queen Elizabeth II:
As the Monarch of the UK & the Commonwealth, HRH Queen Elizabeth reigns over 6.6Bn Acres, including, Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Canada & Australia. However, it must be said that her own personal landholding is a somewhat, more modest, 20,000 acres of land in the UK, having recently been replaced from the No.1 spot by James Dyson, of Dyson hoover fame, who now owns over 25,000 acres of farmland in the UK.
#2 King Salman of Saudi Arabia
King Salman of Saudi Arabia is an Absolute Monarch with total royal control over the 830,000 miles of the oil producing Kingdom, which has a GDP of $618Bn. The King has taken a keen interest in agriculture, inaugurating the Sustainable Rural Agriculture Development Program in 2018, targeting 8 sectors of small-scale agricultural production in Saudi Arabia.
Photo Source: US Dept of https://www.flickr.com/photos/statephotos/44636044814/
#3 Pope Francis
Land: 110 Acres in the Holy See that constitutes Vatican City plus 177 million acres in various properties around the globe owned by the Catholic church and legally titled to the Holy See as its own independent nation.
#4 King Mohammed VI of Morocco:
As being the Monarch of Morocco, the Kind rules over 175mn acres of Land: However, the King is a major landholder and agricultural producer in his own right owning shares in “Les Domains”, a company with 12,000 acres and producing 170,000 tonnes of Citrus per year, earning a reported income of $ 175mn per year also in Morocco agriculture is exempt from taxes.
(Photo: By UN Climate Change – Flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54674384)
#4 King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand
Ruling over 128 million acres of Land in Thailand as a country. The King has vested all previous assets held by the Royal family, in his own personal name, meaning that he will have to pay taxes on them, assets which include, large landholdings particularly in Bangkok. The new King has taken a huge interest in Agriculture calling it the backbone of the Thai economy and is particularly passionate greater agri efficiency.
Photo: By The Public Relations Department (กรมประชาสัมพันธ์) – https://oer.learn.in.th/search_detail/result/49360, CC BY 3.0 the, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70926353
-Author Richard Hobson – Founder Herdsy
