text: There is less peat in the Southern Hemisphere, in part because there is less land. The world's largest tropical peatland is located in Africa (the Democratic Republic of Congo). In addition, the vast Magellanic Moorland in South America (Southern Patagonia/Tierra del Fuego) is an extensive peat-dominated landscape. Peat can be found in New Zealand, Kerguelen, the Falkland Islands, and Indonesia (Kalimantan [Sungai Putri, Danau Siawan, Sungai Tolak], Rasau Jaya (West Kalimantan), and Sumatra). Indonesia has more tropical peatlands and mangrove forests than any other nation on earth, but Indonesia is losing wetlands by  per year. A catalog of the peat research collection at the University of Minnesota Duluth provides references to research on worldwide peat and peatlands.
  About 7% of all peatlands have been exploited for agriculture and forestry. Under certain conditions, peat will turn into lignite coal over geologic periods of time.
  General uses
  Fuel
  Peat can be used as fuel once dried. Traditionally, peat is cut by hand and left to dry in the sun. In many countries, including Ireland and Scotland, peat was traditionally stacked to dry in rural areas and used for cooking and domestic heating. This tradition can be traced back to the Roman period. For industrial uses, companies may use pressure to extract water from the peat, which is soft and easily compressed.