Country rankings
Land Reforms by Country
Land Reforms by Country: compare 50 countries on 5 metrics.
Data
Click a column to sort.
50 countries
 Afghanistan | 1975, 1978 | 1975: Republic of Afghanistan, 1978: Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) | 1975: Addressing inequities in land tenure conditions, 1978: Addressing mortgage debts and land redistribution | 1975: Issuance of Land Reform Law, limits on individual holdings, expropriation of surplus land, compensation mechanism, priority for redistribution., 1978: Issuance of Decree No. 6 cancelling mortgage debts, reduction of maximum landholdings, establishment of priority catego… | 1975: Program postponed due to various factors including nominal land division among wealthy families, limited technical data, and organizational challenges, 1978: No compensation for expropriated surplus land, priority given to certain categories of farmers for redistributed… |
 Albania | 1946, 1958-1962+1 | 1946: Post-WW2 government, 1958-1962: Enver Hoxha+1 | 1946: Social justice, lessening inequality, 1958-1962: Communism, collectivization drive+1 | 1946: Constitutional reforms, 1946: Land to the tiller+4 | 1946: By 1954, more than 90% of land was held in small and mid-sized farms., 1958-1962: By 1971, independent family farms had virtually disappeared+1 |
 Australia | 1976-2004 | Various | Social justice, historic justice to indigenous Australians | Several laws giving land rights to Aboriginals | Large lands have been returned to Aboriginals |
 Austria | 1680-1790, 1849 | 1680-1790 - Maria Theresa and Joseph II, 1849 - Constituent Assembly | 1680-1790: Enlightenment, liberate peasants, 1680-1790: Increase tax revenues+1 | 1680-1790: Freedom to peasants, 1680-1790: Abolish serfdom duties+1 | 1680-1790: Nobles did not cooperate and laws were not enforced, 1849: Feudal law abolished, but most land remained concentrated with the nobles |
 Bolivia | 1953-2006 | 1953-2006: Víctor Paz Estenssoro, Evo Morales | 1953-2006: Social justice, expanding indigenous rights | 1953-2006: Abolished forced peasantry labor. Distribute rural property of traditional landlords to indigenous peasants Organized peasants into armed militias | 1953-2006: By 1970, 45% of peasant families had received title to land. The reform goes on |
 Brazil | 1985-1990 | José Sarney | — | — | — |
 Cambodia | 2007-2008 | Hun Sen | — | — | — |
 Canada | 1873 | — | — | — | — |
 Chile | 1962-1973 | Jorge Alessandri | Social justice, lessening inequality | Nationalization of large estates, Redistribution to peasants | After the 1973 coup, the process was halted and somewhat reversed by market forces |
 China | 1911-1940s, 1947+3 | 1911-1940s: Sun Yat-sen, Nat. govt., 1947: Chinese Communist Party+3 | 1911-1940s: Equal land distribution, 1947: Land reform campaigns+3 | 1911-1940s: Partial implementation, US-funded programs, 1947: Control in North China villages+3 | 1911-1940s: Some redistribution, establishment of programs, 1947: Establishment of control+3 |
 Colombia | 1968-1969 | lberto Lleras Camargo and Carlos Lleras Restrepo | — | — | — |
 Cuba | 1959-1963 | Che Guevara | Communism | Nationalization of large estates, Redistribution to peasants+1 | Peasants were given land rights, but these rights are constrained by government production quotas and a prohibition of real estate transactions |
 Czechia | 1940 | — | — | During the Holocaust in Slovakia, the 1940 Land Reform Act confiscated and nationalized 101,423 hectares (250,620 acres) of land owned by 4,943 Jews in what was then Czechoslovakia. | — |
 Egypt | -1500, -720+1 | -1500: Joseph, -720: Bakenranef+1 | -1500: Monarchism, strengthen Pharaoh, -720: Social justice, help the peasants+1 | -1500: Nationalization, -1500: Joseph bought all lands for Pharaoh+3 | -1500: Egyptian peasants became serfs of Pharaoh, -720: Bakenranef murdered, reforms undone+1 |
 Estonia | 1919 and 1991 | — | — | — | — |
 Ethiopia | 1975 | DERG | Social justice, lessening inequality | Nationalization of large estates. Redistribution to peasants | End of feudal law, strengthening of peasants |
 Finland | 1757 | — | — | — | — |
 France | 1720-1793 | Victor Amadeus II | Economics, increase royal income, weaken the nobility | Freedom to peasants, abolish serfdom duties, confiscate lands from lords | All estates were at least partially emancipated |
 Germany | 1763-1859 | Prussian reforms | — | — | — |
 Greece | -575, -560+1 | -575: Solon -560: Peisistratos, -244 to -227: Agis IV,Cleomenes III | -575- Stabilization, help the poor, prevent an uprising -560- Centralization, help the poor, strengthen the tyrant -244 to 227: Centralization, help the poor, strengthen the army | -575: Freedom to peasants, debt annulment, forbid slavery of Athenians -560: Land redistribution from rich to poor, -244 to -227: Land redistribution, debt annulment | -575: Poverty somewhat alleviated, -560: Athenian aristocracy weakened, poverty somewhat reduced+1 |
 Guatemala | 1953-1954 | Juan José Arévalo, Jacobo Árbenz | Social justice, lessening inequality | Expropriation of land, redistribution to peasants | The reform itself was successful, but a later US-backed coup reversed it entirely |
 India | 1961 | Hare Krishna Konar, E. M. S. Namboodiripad, and others | Economics, modernize the agriculture, end the exploitation of the poor | Abolition of rent-collectors, secure land-tenure, land ceiling, consolidate disparate holdings. | In parts of India, redistribution of land became more equitable. In other parts, people found loopholes in ceiling laws |
 Iran | 1962-1971 | Shah | — | — | — |
 Iraq | 1970-1982 | Saddam Hussein | — | — | 264,400 farmers received grants of land |
 Ireland | 1870-1922 | William Ewart Gladstone, UK government | Social justice, historic justice to Irish natives | Land transfer from large English landlords to their Irish tenants, funded by UK government | By 1922, more than 90% of lands had been transferred |
 Italy | -133 to -121, 1773-1865 | -133 to -121: Gracchi brothers 1773-1865: various | -133 to -121: Social Justice, help the landless soldiers, 1773-1865: Enlightenment, liberate the peasants and strengthen the king | -133 to -121: Land redistribution, enforcement of land ceiling law, 1773-1865: Nationalize noble lands, reduce duties of peasants to landlords, abolish private landlord armies, distribute common lands to poor peasants | -133 to -121: Reformer tribunes murdered by Senate, reforms undone, 1773-1865: The rich bought most lands and became richer, the Sicilian Mafia was born |
 Japan | 1873, 1947 | 1873: Meiji Government, 1947: Allied Powers, Japanese government | 1873: Establish private land ownership, reform land taxation, 1947: Emancipation of farming land | 1873: Farmers measure land, submit taxes; government adjusts values, 1947: Purchase land from landlords, resell to farmers at low prices | 1873: Resentment, riots; tax rate lowered; eventual implementation, 1947: Redistribution of land, dismantling landlord power structure |
 Kenya | 1954 (approximate) | Mau Mau uprising | — | — | — |
 Latvia | 1920 | Republic of Latvia | — | — | — |
 Mexico | 1856-1910, 1910-1940 | 1856-1910: Miguel Lerdo, Porfirio Díaz, 1910-1940: Álvaro Obregón, Lázaro Cárdenas | 1856-1910: Liberalism and economics, 1910-1940: Social justice, decentralization+1 | 1856-1910: Forced sale of corporately held property, specifically lands held by the Catholic Church and indigenous communities., 1910-1940: Allocate land to peasants in need of it | 1856-1910: Changed the nature of land tenure in Mexico. Most native-owned land was acquired by large estates. 95% of villages lost their lands., 1910-1940: Reversed the process of land concentration, reduced the power and legitimacy of the landlord class. Much land was alloca… |
 Namibia | 1990s, 2007 | 1990s: Sam Nujoma, 2007: Namibian government | 1990s: Addressing land inequality post-independence, 2007: Addressing land inequality, promoting black land ownership | 1990s: Initiation of land reform plan, redistribution from whites to blacks, 2007: Redistribution of 12% of total commercial farmland to black citizens | 1990s: Legislation passed in 1994 with compulsory, compensated approach, slow progress due to constitutional constraints and high land prices, 2007: Partial redistribution of land, still significant land inequality persists |
 Nicaragua | 1979-1990 | Sandinista government | Questionably lawful land redistribution | Nationalized or confiscated significant amounts of land. During the final months of Sandinista rule in 1990, the government distrubuted large portions of nationalized/confiscated land to prominent Sandinistas, in an action later named the Piñata Plan | After their loss in the 1990 elections, most of the Sandinista leaders held most of the private property and businesses that had been confiscated and nationalized by the FSLN government. This situation was tolerated by the new government, led by Violeta Chamorro. |
 North Korea | 1946, 1954-1958 | 1946: North Korean Provisional People’s Committee, Workers' Party of North Korea 1954-1958: Workers' Party of Korea government | 1946: Abolish existing landlord system, redistribute land, 1954-1958:Transition to collective farming | 1946: Expropriation of Japanese and Korean landlords' estates, distribution to farmers, 1954-1958:Progressive phases of collectivization, cooperative ownership | 1946: Redistribution of land, creation of self-defense forces, preparation for Korean War, 1954-1958:Majority of farmland under cooperative ownership, consolidation of farms |
 Paraguay | 1963, 1989 | 1963: Paraguayan government, 1989: National Federation of Campesinos (FNC) | 1963: Limiting the maximum size of landholding, addressing unequal land distribution, 1989: Fighting for justice on unequal land distributions, demanding agrarian reform | 1963: Creation of the Agrarian Statute, establishment of IBR (Instituto de Bienestar Rural), 1989: Advocacy, mobilization of campesinos, reclaiming acres of land | 1963: Laws rarely enforced, IBR unable to effectively address land needs due to limited resources, 1989: Ongoing struggle, persistence of campesino movement |
 Peru | 1988-1995 | Hernando de Soto and the Institute for Liberty and Democracy | — | — | — |
 Philippines | 1946-2014 | various | Social justice, Lessening inequality | Land redistribution laws | Some lands were distributed to landless peasants, but agricultural production suffered. |
 Russia | 1763-1850, 1861+3 | 1763-1850: various, 1861: Alexander II+3 | 1763-1850: Modernize the state by improving the peasants' conditions, 1861: Enlightenment Liberate peasants+3 | 1763-1850: Freedom to peasants from serfdom dutiesEnable serfs to become free landlords, 1861: Freedom to peasants; subsidized purchase of their lands+3 | 1763-1850: nobles bought much more land than peasants, 1861: More than 23 million people received their liberty, but many of them received land insufficient for survival 1861-and became proletariat+1 |
 South Africa | 1913, 1991+2 | 1913: South African government, 1991: F. W. de Klerk+2 | 1913: Segregation, forced removals, land control, 1991: Repealing apartheid laws+2 | 1913: Natives' Land Act of 1913 prohibits new farming operations, sharecropping by blacks, 1991: Repeal of apartheid laws including the Natives' Land Act, passing the Abolition of Racially Based Land Measures Act+1 | 1913: Segregation and forced removals, consolidation of land ownership among white settlers, 1991: Legal removal of racially discriminatory land laws, paving way for more equitable land policies+1 |
 South Korea | 1945-1950 | US Military Govt., Korean authorities | Retain private property, redistribute land | Confiscation of Japanese-owned land, Korean landholders divestment | Creation of independent family proprietors, redistribution of land |
 Sri Lanka | 1972-1974 | Sirimavo Bandaranaike | Distribute land more evenly | Land ceiling, redistribution to peasants, many private plantations became state-run. | Much land was reclaimed and redistributed. However, overall agricultural productivity on state-run plantations decreased, as the plantations were often poorly managed. Many plantations were re-privatized in the 1980s and 1990s. |
 Sweden | 1757 | — | — | — | — |
 Syria | 1963 | Ba'ath Party | — | — | — |
 Taiwan | 1950s | Chiang Monlin, Y.C. James Yen | Modernization, community development | Established the JCRR, agricultural development programs, co-operative formation, rural credit programs | The JCRR (Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction) is credited with laying the agricultural basis for Taiwan's outstanding economic growth in the following decades |
 Thailand | 1975 | Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives | — | — | — |
 Ukraine | 1990, 2018 onwards | 1990: Ukrainian government, 2018 onwards: Various governments and officials | 1990: Transition from collective farms to private ownership, deter speculation, 2018 onwards: Compliance with European Court of Human Rights ruling, economic growth potential | 1990: Distribution of arable land to Ukrainian farmers, imposition of ban on sales of farmland, restrictions on land use as collateral, 2018 onwards: Pledges and initiatives to lift ban on sales of farmland, debates and brawls in parliament over land reform legislation | 1990: Ban on sales of farmland prevents government from selling additional hectares, restrictions similar to those in China and North Korea, 2018 onwards: Passage of legislation lifting ban on sales of agricultural land, gradual lifting of restrictions from July 2021 onwards,… |
 United Kingdom | 17th century, 19th-20th century+1 | 17th century: Diggers, 19th-20th century: John Stuart Mill, Alfred Russel Wallace, Jesse Collings+1 | 17th century: Addressing land ownership inequality, 19th-20th century: Advocacy for land value tax, promoting land reform+1 | 17th century: Advocacy for communal land ownership, challenging feudal system, 19th-20th century: Promotion of land value tax as a means of reform, support for policies promoting fairer land distribution+1 | 17th century: Limited impact on land ownership structure, but laid groundwork for future reform movements, 19th-20th century: Promotion of ideas, influencing later land reform movements+1 |
 United States | Post-Civil War, 1865+2 | Post-Civil War: African Americans, Union Army officials, 1865: William Tecumseh Sherman, Congress+2 | Post-Civil War: Erasing slave-oriented social order, reparations, 1865: Addressing land distribution among freed slaves+2 | Post-Civil War: Various efforts to acquire land, including forceful occupation, collective buying, and squatting., 1865: Issued Field Order 15, dividing coastal land into 40-acre plots+1 | Post-Civil War: Limited success in acquiring land due to political opposition, varied and short-lived efforts, 1865: Order rescinded by President Johnson, majority of land returned to previous owners+1 |
 Venezuela | 2001-2003 | Hugo Chávez | Social justice, lessening inequality | Redistribute government & unused private land to campesinos in need | 60K families received land title |
 Vietnam | 1953-1956, 1970 | 1953-1956: Hồ Chí Minh, 1970: Nguyen Van Thieu | 1953-1956: Communism, break the power of the traditional village elite, 1970: Social welfare, gain support from rural population during the Vietnam war. | 1953-1956: Landlords were murdered by government and land redistributed to peasants.| 1970: Land ceiling, land redistribution with compensation to previous landlords | 1953-1956: Thousands were killed, and 1 million people fled to the South, 1970- Land was redistributed, but law became meaningless 5 years later with the fall of Saigon. |
 Zimbabwe | 1930, 1979+2 | 1930: Southern Rhodesia govt., 1979: Robert Mugabe+2 | 1930: Segregation, land control, 1979: Addressing land inequality+2 | 1930: Enacted Land Apportionment Act, 1979: "Willing buyer, willing seller" plan+2 | 1930: Concentration of land among white minority, 1979: Settlement of black families on former white-owned land+2 |
Quick answers
- Where does this land reforms by country data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Land Reforms by Country - Wiki.