Which site became the world’s first national park when it was established in 1872?

Yellowstone National Park became the world’s first national park when it was established in 1872.

Located mainly in Wyoming, with smaller portions in Montana and Idaho, Yellowstone was created by an Act of Congress signed by President Ulysses S. Grant on 1 March 1872. The law protected the area as a public park for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, setting an influential model for conservation.

Yellowstone is famous for geothermal features including Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, and Mammoth Hot Springs. It sits above a large volcanic system, and its landscape also includes mountains, forests, rivers, and the Yellowstone caldera. The National Park Service was not created until 1916, so Yellowstone initially belonged to a broader federal conservation system administered in different ways.