With those caveats, their findings indicate the church owns at least 1,754,633 acres across 15,963 properties, with a minimum market value of $15.7 billion.
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Even this partial portfolio would make the church — with nearly 7 million members nationally and more than 16.6 million worldwide — the fifth largest private landowner in the U.S., according to The Land Report, which tracks holdings among some of the nation's wealthiest families.
The notion of owning land as a financial safeguard against devastation, both personally and at a community level, has remained deeply embedded in Mormon culture almost since the faith's 1830 founding.