Highlights What are the main findings? Global wildfires show distinct seasonal peaks (Jul-Sep and Dec-Jan) and significant regional variations across different fire-prone zones. The global burned area increased significantly from 1982 to 2018, a trend not seen in northern and temperate regions. Key fire drivers vary by region: climate and fuel in tropics; fuel availability in arid zones; surface dryness in boreal forests. What are the implications of the main findings? This study systematically elucidates the spatiotemporal patterns of the global wildfire burned area, providing critical evidence for understanding long-term wildfire dynamics and their governing mechanisms across different regions. By identifying the dominant drivers of fire activity across regions, this study provides a scientific basis for developing differentiated fire risk prediction models and supporting ecosystem-based adaptive management.Highlights What are the main findings? Global wildfires show distinct seasonal peaks (Jul-Sep and Dec-Jan) and significant regional variations across different fire-prone zones. The global burned area increased significantly from 1982 to 2018, a trend not seen in northern and temperate regions. Key fire drivers vary by region: climate and fuel in tropics; fuel availability in arid zones; surface dryness in boreal forests. What are the implications of the main findings? This study systematically elucidates the spatiotemporal patterns of the global wildfire burned area, providing critical evidence for understanding long-term wildfire dynamics and their governing mechanisms across different regions. By identifying the dominant drivers of fire activity across regions, this study provides a scientific basis for developing differentiated fire risk prediction models and supporting ecosystem-based adaptive management.Abstract Wildfires profoundly impact carbon cycles, climate, and human societies. However, a comprehensive understanding of the long-term spatiotemporal characteristics and influencing factors of global wildfires remains limited. This study analyzes the spatiotemporal patterns and influencing factors of wildfires from 1982 to 2018 using a global satellite-derived burned area (BA) product. We classified fire-prone regions into four types based on climate: Tropical dry season (Tr-ds), Arid fuel-limited (Ar-fl), Boreal hot season (Bo-hs), and Temperate dry and hot season (Te-dhs). Major fire hotspots include Africa, northern Australia, South America's Brazilian highlands, the Indochina Peninsula, and Central Asia. The global multi-year average BA is 4.59 x 108 ha yr-1, with Africa (3.04 x 108 ha yr-1) and northern Australia (2.83 x 107 ha yr-1) being the most affected. Fire activity peaks annually in July-September and December-January. From 1982 to 2018, both the global and sub-regional BA show significant increasing trends, except northern and temperate areas, though reduced burn-down areas from shorter periods have been reported during the MODIS era. At both the global scale and in the Tr-ds region, wildfire activity is strongly associated with hot and dry conditions in combination with abundant fuel availability. Fire activity in the Ar-fl region is mainly constrained by fuel availability. Surface dryness plays a dominant role in fire activity in the Bo-hs. In contrast, fire activity in the Te-dhs region shows no clear pattern. The influence of different factors on the BA is subject to threshold effects. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of long-term wildfire dynamics across different regions globally.