Editing Active volcano (section)

== Overview ==
There are 1,350 potentially active volcanoes around the world, 500 of which have erupted in historical time.<ref name="www.usgs.gov-2">{{Cite web |title=How many active volcanoes are there on Earth? {{!}} U.S. Geological Survey |url=https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-many-active-volcanoes-are-there-earth |access-date=2023-11-28 |publisher=United States Geological Survey}}</ref> Many active volcanoes are located along the Pacific Rim, also known as the Pacific [[Ring of Fire]].<ref name="www.usgs.gov-2" /><ref name=esa/> An estimated 500 million people live near active volcanoes.<ref name=esa>{{cite web |url= http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Space_for_our_climate/SEM3XU2VQUD_0.html |title=Volcanoes |year=2009 |publisher=European Space Agency |access-date=August 16, 2012}}</ref>

''Historical time'' (or recorded history) is another timeframe for ''active''.<ref name=Decker/><ref>{{cite book |title=Volcanoes |first=Robert I. |last=Tilling |year=1997 |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey |location=Denver, Colorado |access-date=August 16, 2012 |chapter=Volcano environment|chapter-url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volc/environments.html |quote=There are more than 500 active volcanoes (those that have erupted at least once within recorded history) in the world}}</ref> The span of recorded history differs from region to region. In China and the [[Mediterranean]], it reaches back nearly 3,000 years, but in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada, it reaches back less than 300 years, and in Hawaii and New Zealand it is only around 200 years.<ref name=Decker>{{cite book |title=Mountains of Fire: The Nature of Volcanoes |last1=Decker |first1=Robert Wayne |last2=Decker |first2=Barbara |year=1991 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-31290-5 |page=7 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-P83AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA7 }}</ref> The incomplete ''Catalogue of the Active Volcanoes of the World'', published in parts between 1951 and 1975 by the [[International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior|International Association of Volcanology]], uses this definition, by which there are more than 500 active volcanoes.<ref name=Decker/><ref name="Dartmouth_Electronic">{{cite web | url=https://www.dartmouth.edu/~volcano/EvA.html | title=Catalogs of Active Volcanoes | publisher=Dartmouth College | work=The Electronic Volcano | date=14 November 1997 | access-date=16 April 2021 | first1=B. | last1=DeFelice | first2=D.R. | last2=Spydell | first3=R.E. | last3=Stoiber | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200119001556/https://www.dartmouth.edu/~volcano/EvA.html | archive-date=2020-01-19}}</ref> {{As of|2021|03}}, the [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s [[Global Volcanism Program]] recognizes 560 volcanoes with confirmed historical eruptions.<ref name="GVP-FAQ-2021-03">{{cite web | url=https://volcano.si.edu/faq/index.cfm?question=activevolcanoes | title=How many active volcanoes are there? | publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] | department=[[Global Volcanism Program]] Volcanoes of the World (version 4.9.4) | editor-last=Venzke | editor-first=E. | date=2013 | access-date=2 April 2021}}</ref>

Countries with the most Holocene volcanoes, according to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program ({{As of|2023|lc=y}}):<ref>{{Cite web |title=Global Volcanism Program {{!}} Which countries have the most volcanoes? |url=https://volcano.si.edu/faq/ |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=Smithsonian Institution {{!}} Global Volcanism Program |language=en}}</ref>

# United States: 165
# Japan: 122
# Russia: 117
# Indonesia 117
# Chile: 91

Countries with the most volcanoes active since 1960 ({{As of|2023|lc=y}}):<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-15 |title=Infographic: The Countries With the Most Active Volcanos |url=https://www.statista.com/chart/27828/countries-with-the-most-volcanoes-that-have-been-active-since-1950 |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=Statista Daily Data |language=en}}</ref>

# Indonesia: 55
# Japan: 40
# US: 39 (mostly volcanic areas in and around Hawaii, Alaska, and Pacific territories)
# Russia: 27
# Chile: 19
# Papua New Guinea: 13
# Ecuador: 12

As of 2013, the following are considered Earth's most active volcanoes:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/558.html|title=The most active volcanoes in the world|publisher=VolcanoDiscovery.com|access-date=August 3, 2013}}</ref>
* [[Kīlauea]], the famous [[Hawaii]]an volcano, was in nearly continuous, [[effusive eruption]] (in which lava steadily flows onto the ground) between 1983 through 2018, and had the [[Halemaʻumaʻu#Early history|longest-observed]] [[lava lake]].
* [[Mount Etna]] and nearby [[Stromboli]], two [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] volcanoes. 
* [[Piton de la Fournaise]], in [[Réunion]], erupts frequently enough to be a tourist attraction.

{{As of|2010}}, the longest ongoing (but not necessarily continuous) volcanic eruptive phases are:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livescience.com/29790-worlds-five-most-active-volcanoes.html|title=The World's Five Most Active Volcanoes |last=Leontiou |first=A.|date=2 November 2010|publisher=livescience.com|access-date=August 4, 2013}}</ref>
* [[Mount Yasur]], 111 years
* [[Mount Etna]], 110 years
* [[Stromboli]], 108 years
* [[Santa María (volcano)|Santa María]], 101 years
* [[Sangay]], 94 years

Other highly active volcanoes include:

* [[Mauna Loa]] in Hawaii is the largest active volcano in the world. Its summit is more than {{Convert|4|km|sp=us}} above sea level, and {{Convert|17|km|sp=us}} above its base in the sea floor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Where is the largest active volcano in the world? {{!}} U.S. Geological Survey |url=https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/where-largest-active-volcano-world |access-date=2023-12-01 |publisher=United States Geological Survey}}</ref>
* [[Mount Nyiragongo]] and its neighbor, [[Nyamuragira]], are [[Africa]]'s most active volcanoes.[[File:Lava Lake Nyiragongo 2.jpg|thumb|[[Mount Nyiragongo|Nyiragongo]]'s lava lake]]
* [[Erta Ale]], in the [[Afar Triangle]], has maintained a lava lake since at least 1906.
* [[Mount Erebus]], in [[Antarctica]], has maintained a lava lake since at least 1972.
* [[Mount Merapi]]
* [[Whakaari / White Island]], has been in a continuous state of releasing volcanic gas since before European observation in 1769.
* [[Ol Doinyo Lengai]]
* [[Ambrym]]
* [[Arenal Volcano]]
* [[Pacaya]]
* [[Klyuchevskaya Sopka]]
* [[Sheveluch]]

Holocene volcanoes with large populations within {{Convert|5|km|abbr=on|sp=us}}:

[[Michoacán–Guanajuato volcanic field|Michoacan-Guanajuato]] volcano in Mexico and [[Tatun Volcanic Group]] in Taiwan both have more than 5 million people living within {{Convert|5|km|sp=us}} of the volcano. [[Campi Flegrei]] in Italy and Ilopango in El Salvador both have populations of over 2 million people living within {{Convert|5|km|sp=us}} of the volcanoes. [[Hainan Volcanic Field]] in China, [[San Pablo Volcanic Field]] in the Philippines, [[Ghegham Volcanic Ridge]] in Armenia, [[Dieng Volcanic Complex]], in Indonesia, and [[Auckland volcanic field|Auckland Volcanic Field]] in New Zealand all have over 1 million people living within {{Convert|5|km|sp=us}} of each volcano.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Global Volcanism Program {{!}} What volcanoes have the most people living nearby? |url=https://volcano.si.edu/faq/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Smithsonian Institution {{!}} Global Volcanism Program |language=en}}</ref>