Warm-water coral reefs are the most biodiverse of marine habitats and the most important ecosystem engineers found in the marine environment. Most of this diversity is not due to the corals themselves but rather due to the multitude of organisms that depend on the coral reef ecosystem. This dataset shows the global distribution of coral reefs in tropical and subtropical regions. It is the most comprehensive global dataset of warm-water coral reefs to date, acting as a foundation baseline map for future, more detailed, work.