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North America has 40% of the world's peatlands. The total area of peatland in North America is 1,735,000 km². They occur in every province of Canada and in nearly every state of the United States. Ombrotrophic (rain fed) bog, fen and swamp occur in Canada. The main peatland areas in Canada occur in Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Canada's peatlands are among the most extensive of the worlds peatlands and the least threatened by development pressures. Over half of the US peatlands occur in a nearly undisturbed setting in Alaska.

	Open peatland landscape near Churchill, Manitoba in early Autumn. Copyright Clayton Rubec, Environment Canada 1999.
	Atkins Brook, Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia in mid summer, a fen dominated landscape. Copyright Clayton Rubec, Environment Canada 1999.
	Peat bog near Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec. Copyright Clayton Rubec, Environment Canada 1999.
	Patterned string fen near Newfoundland-Labrador. Copyright Doyle Wells, Forestry Canada 1999.
	Basin fen near Kenora, Ontario. Copyright Clayton Rubec, Environment Canada 1999.
	Domed bog with permafrost along Dempster Highway near Inuvik, Northwest Territories in late Autumn. Copyright Clayton Rubec, Environment Canada 1999.
	Slope bog, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Copyright Clayton Rubec, Environment Canada 1999.
	Bog-fen landscape on Hudson Bay Lowland near Moosonee, Ontario. Copyright Clayton Rubec, Environment Canada 1999.
	Peat harvesting operation near Tabusintac, New Brunswick. Copyright Clayton Rubec, Environment Canada 1999.
	Low centered polygon mire, Horton River, NWTerr. Copyright Steve Zoltai 1999.
	High centered polygon mire, Tuktoyaktuk, NWTerr. Copyright Steve Zoltai 1999.
	Peat plateau mire, Mackenzie River, NWTerr. Copyright Steve Zoltai 1999.
	String fen, Mealy Mountains, New Foundland. Copyright Steve Zoltai 1999.
	String fen with peat plateaus, Ft. Good Hope, NWTerr. Copyright Steve Zoltai 1999.
	Mackenzie Delta, NWTerr. Copyright Steve Zoltai 1999.