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There is no simple answer to this question. It all depends on what you mean by active. A volcano can rest for a month or a thousand years and then erupt. So was it an active volcano when it wasn't erupting?

Also, do you count a dozen big and little volcanoes that come from one magma pool as twelve, or one?

Here is a list adapted from the website of The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (see link below) of known active volcanoes:

Erupting right now: perhaps 20

Each year: 50-70

Each decade: about 160

Historical eruptions: about 550

Known Holocene eruptions (last 10,000 years): about 1300

Known eruptions plus 'possibles' in last 10,000 years: about 1500

These figures do not include the large number of volcanoes on the deep sea floor. Estimates suggest that roughly 3/4 of the lava reaching the surface of the earth does it at mid ocean ridges.

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10y ago

What else can I help you with?