Ever wondered where you can find most of the natural resources in the world? Which countries have been blessed with abundant oil, gas, and more?
Natural resources refer to the reserves of fuels and earthly minerals naturally found in a country. Unfortunately, this modern era knows all too well that the technical and economic revolution the world is experiencing is quickly draining and depleting its natural resources.
As the world population sees extreme spikes over the past few years, these natural resources are also seeing a corresponding increase in the consumption of such resources, increasing coal, natural gas, and crude oil prices.
While natural resources can be found in many different kinds of mineral reservoirs, the high fuel demand can turn them into the backbone of the economy of every country. This is the very reason why countries with the biggest amount of these natural reservoirs also happen to enjoy the world’s most flourishing economies.
The following are the top 10 countries that abound the most with natural resources this 2022:
1. Russia
Topping the list as far as natural resources are concerned is none other than Russia. And its resources include diamonds, gold, palladium, platinum, petroleum, natural gas, and coal.
Russia also abounds with manganese, iron ore, copper, titanium, nickel, chromium, tungsten, lead, and tin. If these are not enough, the country also makes up about 20 percent of the timber in the world through its bountiful conifers.
The natural resources reserve of the country has an estimated worth of $75 trillion. Among many other things, this amount already includes gold, rare earth metals, timber, coal, natural gas, and oil. The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment of Russia produced a lower estimate in 2019 at $910 billion.
Russia also holds the biggest proven natural gas reserves in the world at 1.32 quadrillion cubic feet which account for almost 20 percent of the total of the world as of 2020. The country also has the second-biggest reserves of gold at 6,800 tons or over 12 percent of the worldwide total as of 2021.
Russia was the third-biggest producer of crude oil in the world at 12 percent of international supply in 2020. The proven oil reserves of the nation were also the sixth biggest in the world at approximately 107.8 billion barrels.
The country also accounted for about a third of the global production of diamonds in the whole world and 61 percent of the reserves of the commodity.
2. The United States of America
The USA is the third-biggest coal producer that accounts for 27 percent of the total resources of the world. Other natural resources of the country include bauxite, copper, crude oil, natural gas, nickel, potash, silver, uranium, and zinc, just to name a few.
An extensive array of geographies provides the perfect opportunities for harnessing renewable energy sources from biodiesel to wind.
The United States has an approximate value of natural resources at $45 trillion with almost 90 percent made up of coal and timber. The US is, in fact, the leading coal producer and in the year 2020, it has the world’s biggest proven reserves of coal.
Other resources are gold, natural gas deposits, oil, and substantial copper. Also included in the list are arable land, bauxite, iron, lead, mercury, molybdenum, natural gas, nickel, petroleum, phosphates, potash, rare earth elements, silver, timber, tungsten, uranium, and zinc.
3. Saudi Arabia
You wouldn’t be hard-pressed to guess the revenue lynchpin of Saudi Arabia., But more than the abundant supplies of oil in the country, which is estimated to be around 268 billion barrels, KSA also has aluminum, gold, natural gas, and phosphate. The Future Minerals Forum also helped raise the profile of the country and highlighted its mining aspirations.
This small Middle Eastern country is only a bit bigger than Mexico, but its natural resources are worth $34.4 trillion, specifically oil. The country has been the key exporter since the discovery of oil in 1938.
Holding 15 percent of the reserves in the world as of 2022, the economy of Saudi Arabia is heavily dependent on its oil exports. But natural gas processing and capacity have increased since 2015 but that for oil saw a decrease.
Other natural resources of Saudi Arabia include silver, copper, tungsten, feldspar, sulfur, zinc, and phosphate.
4. Canada
You can’t not mention Canada in the mining and energy headlines with its reserves of iron ore, coal, petroleum, potash, and uranium. Potash is among the jewels in the crown of Canada’s resources that make up 29 percent of the production in the world. During these sustainable times, the nation is starting to become a focal point for innovation in green mining.
The vast country has approximately $33.2 trillion worth of natural resources. This has the third biggest deposits of oil just right next to Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. The country owns numerous commodities including industrial minerals like limestone, gypsum, rock salt, and energy minerals like uranium and coal.
Metals in Canada include zinc, lead, nickel, and copper, as well as precious metals such as gold, silver, and platinum. The country is also a leading natural gas producer.
5. Iran
The major mineral resources of this country in the Middle East are chromium, coal, copper, gas, iron ore, lead, manganese, oil, sulfur, and zinc. Iran’s exploration efforts have started to find new reserves at the expansive gas field in South Pars.
The natural resources of the country have an estimated value of $27.3. The country was also the fifth biggest producer of crude oil in 2020 in the OPEC or Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. This was also the third-biggest producer of natural gas in the world in 2019. Arable land, fruits, pistachios, and saffron also contribute to this estimated value.
6. China
China has got some substantial deposits of natural gas and oil and is also the third-biggest iron ore producer. Bauxite, coal, diamonds, lead, gold, phosphate rock, and mercury are other major minerals found in the country and it is also among the biggest magnesium exporters.
Of course, you cannot overlook water because hydroelectricity is one of the main energy sources in the country and has the greatest hydropower potential in the world.
The natural resources in China have an estimated value of $23 trillion. Ninety percent of the resources of the country are rare earth metals and coal. Timber is also among the country’s major natural resources as well as arable land.
Other resources of the country include rice and abundant amounts of metals like aluminum and gold and other minerals.
7. Brazil
The mining profile of Brazil is a vast one that encompasses bauxite, diamonds, gold, iron, platinum, and tin. But the country truly excels the most in the less popular minerals, claiming the number one spot for tantalite and niobium, the second spot for graphite and kaolin, and the third spot for reserves of aluminum, vermiculite, and talc.
The natural resources of Brazil are worth $21.8 trillion and include uranium, oil, gold, and iron. The country was also the world’s eighth-biggest producer of oil in 2019 and an estimate in 2018 discovered that 61.9 percent of the land was forested while permanent pasture makes up 23.5 percent. The country also has an excellent installed capacity to produce hydroelectric power.
8. Australia
The vast geography of Australia almost guarantees a diverse mining profile wherein coal, copper, gold, iron ore, natural gas, petroleum, and timber spearhead most of the industrial activity of the country. Bauxite, ilmenite, nickel, rutile, uranium, zinc, and zircon are also some of Australia’s important resources.
Australia’s natural resources have an estimated value o $19.9 trillion. The country which is approximately 80 percent of the size of the US is also a large producer of liquefied natural gas and oil. The proven oil reserves of Australia measured at the end of 2021 were around 2.4 billion barrels.
The country is coal’s biggest net exporter, making up 29 percent of the global coal exports. Some other natural resources in Australia include alumina, diamonds, lead, mineral sands, nickel, rare earth elements, silver, tin, tungsten, uranium, and zinc.
9. Iraq
Aside from having some of the world’s biggest oil reserves, Iran is also dominant in some other supergiant fields with its desert terrain being abundant with supplies of natural gas, phosphate, and sulfur. It also produces electric power from hydroelectric resources, natural gas, and liquid fuels.
The country’s natural resources are worth $15.9 trillion Iraq is also OPEC’s biggest producer of crude oil and ranks as the fifth-biggest holder of proven reserves of crude oil in the world. It also depends on crude oil exportation for most of its revenues.
10. Venezuela
Petroleum and the commodities derived from it make up about 95 percent of the total export revenues of Venezuela. This only shows how much the country depends on the commodity and its vulnerability during the recent decarbonized times. But the natural resources of the country also include bauxite, diamonds, gold, hydropower, iron ore, and natural gas.
This country in South America has natural resources worth approximately $14.3 trillion. It was OPEC’s fourth-biggest oil-producing member. It also had the world’s biggest proven oil reserves and the tenth-biggest natural gas reserves.
The Bottom Line
It’s always good news that there are still many countries with abundant natural resources. But remember to always do your part to preserve and protect these reserves so that future generations will also be able to enjoy them as much as the present-day generation does.