Hunting and collecting

Meteorite law by country

Who owns a meteorite depends on where it lands. Some countries leave it to ordinary property law, so the landowner or the finder keeps it. Others treat every meteorite as national heritage that belongs to the state. Many allow private ownership but control export. This guide explains the general position in about 60 countries and territories.

Not legal advice

This is general information to help you ask the right questions, not legal advice. Laws change and their details matter, and this summary was last reviewed in 2026. Before you search, buy, sell or export a meteorite, check the current law with the authorities of the country concerned or a qualified lawyer. See meteorite law by country.

Five rules that apply almost everywhere

Ask before you search: Almost everywhere, searching private land without the owner's permission is trespass, and in many countries the landowner has the strongest claim to anything found there. Agree in writing who keeps what before you start.
Public land has its own rules: Parks, reserves, military land and government land usually forbid collecting, or allow it only with a permit. A meteorite taken from them without permission may legally belong to the state.
Export is often controlled: Many countries that let you own a meteorite still need an export permit before it leaves the country. A meteorite exported illegally can be seized years later, even from a buyer who paid in good faith.
Keep the paperwork: Record where, when and by whom a meteorite was found, and keep permits, receipts and export papers. Good records protect owners, buyers and museums, and they keep the specimen's scientific value.
Report important falls: A fresh fall is precious to science. Telling a national museum or geological survey quickly is the right thing to do, and in some countries it is the law.

What the labels mean

Belongs to the state: The state owns meteorites found there, or claims them; finders must report or hand them in, sometimes for a reward.
Private ownership, export controlled: Meteorites may be owned privately, usually by the landowner, but a permit or clearance is needed before export.
Landowner or finder: Ordinary property law gives the meteorite to the landowner or the finder, though public land has its own rules.
Protected sites: No general meteorite law, but famous meteorite sites are protected and collecting there is forbidden.
Science only: Collecting only for science, by national programmes; specimens are not for sale.
No specific law known: We know of no law written for meteorites; ordinary property, heritage and export law applies.

Country by country

Europe 24

Austria No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Ordinary property law applies; ask the landowner, and the Natural History Museum in Vienna can advise.
Belgium No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Ordinary property law applies; ask the landowner first.
Czechia No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Searches of recent falls are usually led by scientists with landowners' permission.
Denmark Belongs to the state: Meteorites found in Denmark are danekræ, natural treasures that belong to the state. Finders must hand them in and receive a payment.
Estonia Protected sites: No meteorite law that we can confirm, but the Kaali crater field is a protected site where collecting is not allowed.
Finland No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Ask the landowner; the Finnish Museum of Natural History advises on finds.
France No specific law known: No specific law. Court decisions have gone both ways between landowner and finder; recent case law has treated a meteorite as ownerless, so it goes to the finder.
Germany No specific law known: No meteorite law. Lawyers disagree over whether a fall belongs to the landowner or the finder; heritage law in some states may claim important finds.
Greece No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Export of objects of cultural or scientific interest is tightly controlled.
Hungary No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Ordinary property law applies; ask the landowner first.
Ireland No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Heritage law protects archaeological objects; for meteorites, ask the landowner and the National Museum.
Italy No specific law known: No rule fixing ownership by place of find. Meteorite collections in museums are protected as cultural heritage, and export of cultural goods needs permission.
Netherlands No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Ownership follows ordinary property law; ask the landowner first.
Norway No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Ordinary property law applies, and the Natural History Museum in Oslo advises finders.
Poland Protected sites: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. The Morasko meteorite site near Poznań is a nature reserve where collecting is forbidden.
Portugal No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Ordinary property law applies.
Romania No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Ordinary property law applies.
Russia Private ownership, export controlled: No law written for meteorites. Pieces of falls such as Chelyabinsk have been collected and sold, but smuggling large specimens abroad has led to criminal cases.
Slovakia No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. The Košice fall of 2010 was recovered by organised scientific searches.
Spain No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Heritage law can protect objects of scientific interest; ask before exporting.
Sweden Landowner or finder: In 2025 the Supreme Court ruled that a newly fallen meteorite is movable property, so the finders who took it, not the landowner, owned it.
Switzerland Belongs to the state: Ownerless natural objects of scientific value belong to the canton where they are found. The finder is entitled to a reward of up to half the value.
Ukraine No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Export of cultural and natural-history valuables needs permission.
United Kingdom No specific law known: No law written for meteorites. The landowner is generally regarded as having the best claim; the Treasure Act does not apply to natural objects.

Asia 8

China Belongs to the state: No law names meteorites, but courts have treated a large meteorite as a natural resource owned by the state under mineral resources law.
India Belongs to the state: Since 2018 the Geological Survey of India has been the official custodian of meteorites, and every fall or find must be registered with its national repository.
Indonesia No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Ownership follows ordinary property law.
Japan Landowner or finder: No law written for meteorites. Under the Civil Code, falls have generally stayed with the owners of the land or homes they hit.
Kazakhstan No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Export of valuable natural objects needs official permission.
Mongolia No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Export of natural-history specimens needs official permission.
South Korea Private ownership, export controlled: After the Jinju fall of 2014 the heritage authority treated Korean meteorites as cultural property and asked customs to stop them leaving the country.
Thailand No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Ask the Department of Mineral Resources about finds.

Middle East 6

Iran No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. The Lut Desert has yielded many finds; export of natural-history objects needs permission.
Israel No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. Collecting in nature reserves is forbidden.
Oman Belongs to the state: Meteorites are treated as national heritage. Collecting, possessing, trading and exporting them without official permission is prohibited, and smugglers have been prosecuted.
Saudi Arabia No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. Collecting and export need official permission; ask the Saudi Geological Survey.
Turkey No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. Turkey's heritage law is strict about natural and cultural objects; ask before exporting.
United Arab Emirates No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. Ask the relevant emirate's authorities before collecting or exporting.

Africa 15

Algeria Belongs to the state: Searching by foreigners and export are forbidden; Algerian heritage law is used to protect meteorites, and scientific institutions are cautious about Algerian material.
Botswana No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. The 2018 fall of asteroid 2018 LA was searched by scientists with official approval.
Burkina Faso No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. Ownership follows general law.
Egypt No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. The Gebel Kamil crater area is protected; export of natural and cultural objects is tightly controlled.
Kenya No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. Ask the National Museums of Kenya about finds and export.
Libya No specific law known: No meteorite rule we can confirm today. Libya's deserts produced the Dar al Gani finds; exporting natural heritage now needs official permission.
Mali No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. Ownership follows general law; export of natural objects needs permission.
Mauritania No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. Many Saharan finds pass through Mauritania; ask the authorities before export.
Morocco Private ownership, export controlled: Meteorites are geological heritage. Since 2020 a decree under the mining law regulates their collection and export, which needs official papers.
Namibia Belongs to the state: Meteorites are protected national heritage. They should not be removed from where they lie, and export needs official permission.
Niger No specific law known: No law written for meteorites, but in 2025 the government opened an inquiry into how a record Martian meteorite left the country.
South Africa Belongs to the state: Under the National Heritage Resources Act of 1999, all meteorites are the property of the state. Collecting, owning, trading or exporting one needs a permit.
Sudan No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. The Almahata Sitta fall of 2008 was recovered by the University of Khartoum with international partners.
Tunisia No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. Export of natural-history objects needs permission.
Uganda No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. Many Mbale stones of 1992 were gathered by local people and the authorities.

The Americas 10

Argentina Belongs to the state: A 2007 national law makes meteorites cultural property; selling and exporting them is prohibited. Chaco Province protects the Campo del Cielo field.
Bolivia No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. Export of natural and cultural heritage is restricted.
Brazil No specific law known: No law regulates meteorites yet. A bill introduced in 2020 would require registration and a share of every find for Brazilian science.
Canada Private ownership, export controlled: Meteorites may be owned and sold inside Canada, but any meteorite found in Canada needs an export permit under the Cultural Property Export and Import Act.
Chile No specific law known: No law written for meteorites. Heritage law protects archaeological and palaeontological objects; whether it covers meteorites is debated. Check before exporting.
Costa Rica No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. Aguas Zarcas stones of 2019 were kept and sold by those who found them, with samples shared with the University of Costa Rica.
Mexico No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. Allende stones have been collected and traded since 1969; ask before exporting important specimens.
Peru No specific law known: No meteorite-specific rule that we can confirm. The Carancas crater of 2007 was given heritage protection.
United States Landowner or finder: Meteorites belong to the owner of the land where they are found. Federal land has its own rules, including a 10-pound yearly limit for hobby collecting on BLM land.
Uruguay No specific law known: No meteorite-specific law that we can confirm. In 2022 its navy stopped a large meteorite being smuggled out of neighbouring Argentina.

Oceania 2

Australia Private ownership, export controlled: Several states own their meteorites by law, including Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania. Export of any Australian meteorite needs clearance or a permit.
New Zealand Private ownership, export controlled: Meteorites are protected objects. They may be owned, usually by the landowner, but exporting one needs a licence from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

Antarctica 1

Antarctica Science only: Under the Antarctic Treaty system, meteorites may be collected only for science, by national programmes, and they are not for sale.

Glossary: Meteorite ownership, Export rules, Landowner permission, Treasure trove, Cultural heritage law, Antarctic Treaty, Provenance