In 2012, more than 3 thousand people were killed or injured worldwide by landmines.
A majority of those landmines were years old - left over from conflicts dating back to
World War 2.
Experts estimate that over 100 million landmines may still be hidden throughout the world,
and they are difficult to locate and remove.
So we wanted to know, which countries still have them?
Landmines can be as small as a soup can, and they are cheap to produce - sometimes just
$3 dollars.
But they can stay active for decades; long after a war is over.
When that happens, land that was once good for agriculture or transportation is no longer
usable or safe.
This hinders a nation’s post-war recovery by slowing potential socio-economic growth.
There are several nations that currently suffer from significant landmine contamination.
Sources say that up to a third of the land in Afghanistan and Colombia is unusable as
a result.
In total, more than 100 countries are reported to still have active landmines.
Afghanistan in particular had more than one thousand total injuries and deaths from mines
in 2013 alone.
Despite a 1997 ban on landmines signed by over 162 countries, they are still used and
produced.
Yemen, one of the first to sign the Mine Ban Treaty, was accused of using them to fend
off rebel fighters in 2011.
Non-signatories of the Mine Ban, including the governments of Syria and Myanmar (MEE-ahn-mahr)
are also said to still plant mines, according to Human Rights Watch.
Additionally, terrorists throughout many regions in the Middle East, South Asia, and South
America, reportedly use them too.
The UN has continued to call for complete international rejection of the use and creation
of mines, citing their “excessively injurious …[and] indiscriminate effects”.
So where are these mines coming from?
According to a landmine research institute,, 12 countries which did NOT sign the Mine Ban
Treaty, including China, Pakistan, India, North Korea, Russia, and Vietnam, are still
producing them.
The US was even producing landmines until the late ‘90s, and they continue to use
them along the North and South Korean border.
Although landmine use, production and stockpiling has not completely stopped, the number of
landmine casualties is steadily decreasing.
Recent years have had the lowest number of landmine casualties on record.
Experts say that within a decade, the world could be virtually mine-free.
CTA
Another landmine and cluster bomb infested country is Laos.
To learn how non-profit groups are struggling to make these areas more safe, watch the rest
of the story here on Seeker.
** After you watch that, learn about why these bombs last so long over on DNews.
Both those links are in the description and if you want the big picture, make sure you
check them out!
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