Protected Places by Size, From a Sinkhole Beach in Spain to a Reserve in Canada

Playa de Gulpiyuri is the small end of the scale: a flooded sinkhole with an inland beach about 40 meters long near Llanes in Asturias, roughly 100 meters from the Cantabrian Sea. Tunnels carved by salt water let the tide reach the sand, and Spain protects it as a natural monument inside its regional network of protected natural areas.

The Tana River Primate National Reserve in south-eastern Kenya covered about 170 square kilometres, and the source describes it as a former national wildlife reserve. It is here because it shows that a protected area of modest size, and even a lapsed designation, still belongs in a ranking by area.

Babanango Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal covers almost 21,000 hectares, which the source gives as 200 square kilometres, a little larger than the Kenyan reserve. Founded in 2017, it is a malaria-free private reserve described as restored wilderness.

Skarvan and Roltdalen opened in 2004 in Trøndelag county, Norway, and covers about 440 square kilometres, more than twice the Babanango reserve. The Roltdalen valley is the largest roadless mountain valley in southern Trøndelag, and peatlands cover more than 40 percent of the park.

Femundsmarka, established in 1971 over 573 square kilometres, is a step larger again. It is marsh and lake country beside Femunden, Norway's second-largest natural lake, with wild reindeer in the highlands and a small herd of musk oxen that moves seasonally between the park and Sweden.

Forollhogna was established on 21 December 2001 as Norway's 19th national park and covers about 1,060 square kilometres. Its rolling alpine terrain is important habitat for wild reindeer, and the park keeps alive a centuries-old tradition of summer mountain farming.

Lomsdal-Visten, established on 26 June 2009 in Nordland county, covers about 1,102 square kilometres, just above Forollhogna. Its fjords, karst caves and natural arches sit beside traces of human settlement from the Mesolithic period, 8,000 to 9,000 years ago, through Sami reindeer herding and Norwegian farming.

Breheimen, whose name means home of the glaciers, was established in 2009 and covers about 1,700 square kilometres across Innlandet and Vestland counties. Valleys long used for summer grazing sit beneath barren plateaus, high peaks and active glaciers, and the park is managed under IUCN Category II.

Blåfjella-Skjækerfjella, established on 17 December 2004, covers about 1,924 square kilometres in Trøndelag county and is the fourth largest national park on the Norwegian mainland. Old-growth forest in its valleys and Sami settlements, sacred places and burial grounds share the park with brown bears, lynx, wolverines and wolves.

Reinheimen, established in 2006, covers about 1,969 square kilometres and is the largest park on this path in Norway. It is described as one of the largest intact wilderness areas in western Norway, with reindeer habitat, wolverines and golden eagles, and many peaks above 2,000 meters.

Thaidene Nëné, established on 21 August 2019 near the east arm of Great Slave Lake, covers about 14,070 square kilometres of boreal forest, tundra and fresh water, many times the size of any Norwegian park above. It is administered by Parks Canada and is part of the larger Thaidene Nëné Indigenous Protected Area.