Variable Interest Entities and Preferred Securities of Subsidiaries - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended				1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2007	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2007	May 31, 2011 2002 Financing Entities	Mar. 16, 2011 2001 Financing Entities	Oct. 31, 2007 Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary	Dec. 31, 2006 Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary	Jun. 30, 2012 Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary Class B Interests In Entities	Dec. 31, 2011 Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary Class B Interests In Entities	Dec. 31, 2006 Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary Class B Interests In Entities	Dec. 31, 2006 Timber Notes	Jun. 30, 2012 Timber Notes Royal Bank Of Scotland Group Plc	Oct. 07, 2011 Timber Notes Royal Bank Of Scotland Group Plc	Jun. 30, 2012 Timber Notes BNP Paribas	Jun. 21, 2012 Timber Notes BNP Paribas	Dec. 31, 2001 Monetized Notes And Cash Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary	Jun. 30, 2012 2001 Monetized Notes	Mar. 16, 2011 2001 Monetized Notes Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary	Jun. 30, 2012 Preferred Securities Of Subsidiaries	Mar. 31, 2003 Preferred Securities Of Subsidiaries	Mar. 31, 2011 Preferred Securities Of Subsidiaries 2001 Financing Entities	May 31, 2012 2002 Monetized Notes	Mar. 31, 2012 2002 Monetized Notes	Jun. 30, 2012 2002 Monetized Notes	Dec. 31, 2011 2002 Monetized Notes	Jun. 30, 2012 2007 Monetized Notes	Jun. 21, 2012 Monetized Notes Barclays Plc
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Forestlands acreage sales													5,600,000
Amount of consideration received								$ 2,380,000,000	$ 4,800,000,000
Contribution of Class A interests in the Borrower Entities to other newly formed entities in December 2006									200,000,000
Contribution of International Paper promissory notes, to other newly formed entities									400,000,000
Interests held in entities in December 2006												5,000,000,000
Letters of credit downgrade period of replacement		Within 60 days														Within 60 days												within 30 days
Entities acquired International Paper debt obligations for cash									4,800,000,000									1,000,000,000
International Paper debt obligations held by the Entities		11,300,000,000							5,200,000,000	5,200,000,000
Interest, offset against related debt obligations of the entities										5,200,000,000
Long-Term Debt		10,478,000,000		9,189,000,000	2,140,000,000					87,000,000	92,000,000
Notes payable and current maturities		838,000,000		719,000,000						38,000,000	38,000,000
Letters of credit issued	2,380,000,000														797,000,000		707,000,000												500,000,000
Replacement fees incurred														5,000,000
The percent of letters of credit supporting Timber Notes and Monetized Note that are cash collateralized		100.00%
Transferred notes (the Monetized Notes) and cash to entities in exchange for preferred interests																		1,000,000,000
Long-term notes, maturity term																			10 years
Amount of consideration received from sale of notes																				499,000,000
Long-term notes, maturity date																			Mar. 16, 2011
Purchase of preferred interest from external third party																							21,000,000
Percentage of interest in financing entities						100.00%	100.00%
Payments of capital distribution						51,000,000
Notes matured																								141,000,000	111,000,000		191,000,000
Outstanding debt																											158,000,000
Increase (decrease) in accounts and notes receivables																										(252,000,000)
Decrease notes payable and current maturities of long-term debt																										(158,000,000)
Decrease in deferred tax liabilities due to sale of forestlands																										(67,000,000)
Forestlands acres held in United States initially by Southeast timber	1,550,000
Preferred third-party interest, included in noncontrolling interest		419,000,000		340,000,000																	150,000,000
Forestlands acres held in United States initially by Southeast timber																						1,500,000
Preferred securities issued to a private investor with future dividend payments based on LIBOR in March 2003																						150,000,000
Distributions under preferred securities		$ 3,000,000	$ 3,000,000