Short answers, pulled from the story.
Global cultivated land totals roughly 17.2 million square kilometers, covering about 11.6 percent of the world's land surface. This figure combines approximately 15.8 million square kilometers of arable land with roughly 1.55 million square kilometers of permanent cropland.
Arable land is cultivated for crops like wheat, maize, and rice that are replanted after each harvest. Permanent cropland covers crops like citrus, coffee, and rubber that are not replanted after harvest, along with flowering shrubs, fruit trees, elm trees, and vines. Land under trees grown for wood or timber is excluded from both categories.
Percentage figures for arable land, permanent cropland, and other land types come from the CIA World Factbook, as do total land area figures. All other figures, including total cultivated land areas used for ranking, are calculated from that foundational data.
Other lands include all territory that is neither arable nor under permanent crops. This encompasses permanent meadows and pastures, forests and woodlands, built-on areas, roads, and barren land.
Countries are ranked by total cultivated land area, which is the sum of total arable land area and total permanent cropland area. The ranking does not use percentage of land cultivated, but absolute area in square kilometers.
Data dates range from 2002 to 2023. Most country entries carry a 2011 date, several show 2016 figures, some of the smallest territories use 2005 data, and a few entries at the top of the ranking show 2020 or 2023 measurements.