Abstract: Mine areas are highly affected by human activities,which aggravate soil erosion,disturb ecology and pollute the environment,thus causing land degradation,soil quality declining and biodiversity diminishing. How to control these problems has become a new challenge to China in managing the environment and restoring the ecology of mine areas. For that end,it is essential to identify and determine major factors driving land degradation in mine areas. Through comprehensive review of the researches on concept,types and causes of land degradation in mine areas,the boundaries of mine fields were further defined,the connotation of land degradation in mine areas clarified and main driving factors of the land degradation in mine areas,such as ecological destruction,environmental pollution and natural erosion,etc.. On such a basis,land degradation in mine areas is divided into three types,i. e. Type Ⅰ—caused by ecological destruction,TypeⅡ—caused by environmental pollution,and Type Ⅲ—caused by natural erosion. An index system and a set of approaches to the investigation of factors driving land degradation in mine areas has been put forth.