How much of the world isn’t owned by anyone? episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 22, 2026 · 8 MIN

How much of the world isn’t owned by anyone?

from More or Less · host BBC Radio 4

Sometimes world events of massive practical significance lead our minds towards some lovely impractical thoughts. So it was for loyal listener, Nigel.Pondering the conflict in Iran, and the maritime ownership of the Straits of Hormuz that has become its focus, his mind wandered to an altogether bigger and - honestly - far less important question.“How much of the world surface actually doesn't belong to anyone?” he wondered.To try and answer Nigel’s question, we enlisted the help of Mark Cooper-Jones, one half of YouTube duo Map Men. If you’ve seen a number in the news that you think we should take a look at, or have a interesting statistical question like Nigel, get in touch: [email protected]: Lizzy McNeill Producer: Josh McMinn Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: James Beard Editor: Richard Vadon

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 22, 2026

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How much of the world isn’t owned by anyone?

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