Warm-water shallow coral reefs are mainly distributed across the tropics in coastal waters. The list below shows the top 20 countries ranked in order of the amount of coral reef in their territorial waters. This includes overseas territories and so some of the countries responsible for coral reef may be quite surprising. The percentage figures show the proportion of the global total.

1. Indonesia (51,020 sq km, 17.95%)
2. Australia (48,960 sq km, 17.22%)
3. Philippines (25,060 sq km, 8.81%)
4. France, including: Clipperton, Mayotte, Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna Islands (14,280 sq km, 5.02%)
5. Papua New Guinea (13,840 sq km, 4.87%)
6. Fiji (10,020 sq km, 3.52%)
7. Maldives (8,920swq km, 3.14%)
8. Saudi Arabia (6,660 sq km, 2.34%)
9. Marshall Islands (6,110 sq km, 2.15%)
10. India (5,790 sq km, 2.04%)
11. Solomon Islands (5,750sq km, 2.02%)
12. United Kingdom, including: British Indian Ocean Territory, Anguilla, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Pitcairn, Turks and Caicos Islands, British Virgin Islands (5,510 sq km, 1.94%)
13. Federated States of Micronesia (4,340 sq km, 1.53%)
14. Vanuatu (4,110 sq km, 1.45%)
15. Egypt (3,800 sq km, 1.34%)
16. United States of America, including: Florida and Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, United States Minor Outlying Islands, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam (3,770 sq km, 1.33%)
17. Malaysia (3,600 sq km, 1.27%)
18. Tanzania (3,580 sq km, 1.26%)
19. Eritrea (3,260 sq km, 1.15%)
20. Bahamas (3,150 sq km, 1.11%)

Data from UNEP-WCMC World Atlas of Coral Reefs, 2001.