The FAO Soil Classification System was an international system for classifying soils developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. It grouped soils into major soil units based on their physical, chemical, and morphological characteristics, providing a common language for global soil mapping and land resource assessments. It was widely used from the 1970s through the 1990s.
The FAO system has largely been replaced by the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB), which expanded and standardized the classification framework while maintaining compatibility with many FAO soil groups. Many older scientific papers, maps, and agricultural references still use FAO soil names, so understanding the system remains useful when interpreting historical literature.
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