Since then, landmines have piled up in huge proportions. Dozens of countries have started using them as offensive weapons. Many minefields are uncharted, leaving countrysides with any hope of redemption being very expensive, and therefore out of the question.  Estimates suggest that over 110 million landmines are still in place.
 

What happened when:

World War II 1939-45:

North Africa. Here, many large minefields were put down to act as impassible barriers. Many locations are uncertain because they were either unmapped, markers were lost, or sand drifts have tossed them about. Today most of these minefields remain hazardous deserts.

Europe. Landmines were not used extensively until the end of the war. Both sides of the conflict were involved in the dispersement of mines. Minefield clearance is still being undertaken in places like Holland, while in France land is still claimed by unfriendly landmines.

Nearly ten different countries relied on anti-personnel mines for defense. The fields were so thick with AP landmines they were a constant threat even to the faction who laid them. There are accounts of armies losing too many troops during marches through the feared, uncharted minefields.

Here entire villages were surrounded by landmines, hand laid or dropped from the air. Nobody kept full records of the mines laid and it is almost impossible to do so for the mines dropped from aircraft.
 

Minefields in this area were well-mapped and well-marked. These short wars did not leave hazardous mines behind and there are no reports of civilian casualties caused by landmines.

Here the only laying of landmines was done in mountainous country. This was a lost cause because of the fact that the landmines could not be triggered in the snow and they slid down the mountainsides even when anchored, on account of the snow drifts. Mapping was futile.

Since the civil war an estimated 1.5 million landmines have been laid almost at random in some fields. Others were laid to keep boundaries secured during the war of liberation. Only 10% of the mines have been removed.

The SADF ( South African Defense Force) laid their anti-personnel mines in marked and fenced areas surrounding encampments. The opposition laid theirs mainly at random to threaten the SADF's movement.

Here the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) is constantly dealing with factions of different sorts within the country.  Even though these groups themselves use AP landmines the government considers them out of the question; all the AFP's landmines have been destroyed.

Here many minefields were laid to disadvantage the opposition's movement. After cease-fire the clean-up started. Most of the landmines were removed and some casualties were inflicted on demining units. Regular barrier walls are now thought to be the better way to go.

Anti-personnel mines and anti-tank were laid in northern Chad. Random dispersement was common and the minefields themselves were invisible. Furthermore, the government of Chad does not have any maps pertaining to these minefields.

Mine-laying was done with little effort to record and map the minefields. Roads leading into the heart of the country were heavily mined and major towns were surounded   by AP and AT mines. Some demining has occured but still Angola is considered to be the most mine-infested country in Africa.

All the minefields there were not  marked, but, if mapped, the maps were not handed over to the UN. Many different organizations were responsible for the mine-laying at different times and in different places.

In Cambodia most of the mine laying was done by the Khmer-Rouge and targeted civilian populations. Humanitarian groups have demined areas just to have them remined again.  Cambodia has more amputees as a percentage of the population than any other country in the world.

Afghanistan has the third largest number of mines in their country. Most of the land is mined, especially heavily along borders with Iran and Pakistan. Over 30 different types of  mines have been found there.

Most of all the mines laid were placed in Kurdistan; this where most of the action happened. Sometimes this "action" included using children to run across a minefield to clear the way for the ground troops.

Here, mining was done without charting, so many of the original mine-layers were recruited to demine.

Extensive use of anti-personnel mines was made by the Argentine government. Some clearance programs were established, but were short lived due to heavy casualties on demining units.

Here almost all mining was targeted at the civilian population. The maps of these minefields are literally useless for demining purposes.

Most mines used here are anti-tank and there has been no report of any mapped minefields.

Here the government laid AP mines, AT mines and other booby-traps in the northern part of the country. Some maps were kept, but tended to be incomplete.

Many landmines of both AP and AT were laid along the borders, but some isolated minefields outside have been discovered. Some clearance has been undertaken.

The mines laid here were mixed AP and AT and were positioned around the newly conquered territory of Kuwait. These belts did not defend as well as Iraq had expected, because the Coalition forces had modern breaching techniques and high mobility.

There has been heavy mine-laying during this three year war. An estimated 3-6 million mines still remain uncleared. Some maps were kept and have been turned over to the UN.

Landmines were laid along the borders and were not marked.

In this one month conflict, tens of thousands of landmines were laid down on the borders between these two countries. Some efforts have been made to demine the area, but still about 6,000 mines remain.