You could make the argument the paying property tax trumps ownership, but I just want an overall answer to the question of What percentage of the earth is privately owned, by earth I am refering to surface.
Unless you do some hardcore research into how the earth is divided into those categories, you’ll find it hard to come up with a total figure.
Do the percentages refer to the amount of land owned privately?
I butchered the question, the percentages are just divisions of land. They in no way symbol ownership.
My question is about ownership!
Well, one thing I would be careful about is distinguishing between pseudoprivate entities holdings (US Federal Reserve, heavily subsidised and/or governmentally managed companies like GM, government owned enterprises), private criminals territory (Drug cartel compounds, slave markets, Mafia villas) and private property itself.
This can have a surprising amount of impact, when you consider debates over whether Wal-Mart or Microsoft are pseudoprivate or private.