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The Largest Countries in the World

Which are at the largest countries in the world when considering the land area they occupy on this planet?

On this page we share the main facts about the world’s ten most extensive countries. Did you know that these ten countries almost cover as much of our planet’s area as all other countries combined!

The largest countries in the world are… Can you spot them already?

Russia is the world’s largest country, whether considering only land area or the total area (including water area). And interestingly, Canada is smaller than China or the USA if considering only the land area. 

Now have a look at our listing of the ten largest countries according to their total area here.

The World’s Largest Countries

1. Russian Federation

1. Russia is more than twice as large as Australia and almost twice as large in land area as the USA.

Russia Facts

The world’s largest country is about 67 times larger than the UK or almost seven times as big as Algeria, which is Africa’s largest country and the tenth largest country in the world!

The transcontinental country Russia occupies the largest land area in Europe and is also the largest country on the Asian continent. 

Map of Russia

Russia is about 1.8 times larger than China!

If you want to get more detailed information about the countries for kids, please check out our country facts.

2. People’s Republic of China

China, the world’s second largest country, is slightly larger than the USA.

Compared to countries in Europe, China is about 38 times larger than the United Kingdom and about 16 times larger than Europe’s largest country Ukraine.

China Facts

With 1.44 billion people, China has a very large population, but the UK is much more densely populated than China. China has a population that is only 21 times bigger the population of the UK.

Even though, China has more people living in her borders than the combined population of the South American and European continents and the population of Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada added in as well!  

Map of mainland China – Taiwan is also claimed by the People’s Republic of China

China is about 2% larger than the USA.

3. United States of America

The United States of America (USA) is slightly larger in land area than the neighbouring country Canada.

USA Facts

The USA is about almost five times as large as the southern neighbour Mexico or three times larger than India or 18 times larger than Spain! 

The population of the USA is only about nine times larger than that of northern neighbour country Canada. 

Map of the USA

The USA is the largest country in the Western Hemisphere by land area. Canada is only slightly smaller in land area than the USA.

4. Canada

Canada is also slightly smaller in land area than China but has a larger water area. Would one include water area into the calculation, Canada would be larger than China or the USA!

Canada is more than 14 times as large as France or about 37 times as large as the UK.

Canada houses about 38 million people and is about four times as big as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is Africa’s largest French speaking country with a population of 92 million. 

Map of Canada

Canada is the largest country in the Western Hemisphere by total area including water area.

5. Brazil

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and the largest country on the South American continent. 

Brazil is slightly smaller than the USA but about 34 times larger than the UK or even 92 times larger than Portugal!

Compared to South America’s second largest country Argentina, Brazil is a bit more than three times as big as Argentina.

Map of Brazil

And Brazil is about 10% larger than Australia!

6. Australia

Australia is the world’s ‘largest country without land borders’ and the largest country in the Southern Hemisphere.

Australia is about 31 times as big as the UK and occupies almost double the land area of all 27 countries of the European Union combined! Australia is one of the least densely populated countries in the world.

Map of Australia

Australia only has a ‘tiny’ population of about 25 million people, while India which is slightly smaller in land area houses more than 50 times as many people!

7. India

India, the second largest country of the Asian continent, is about the size of one third of the land area of China.

India is about 12 times larger than the UK and has less than one third of the land area of the USA. India is about 20% larger than Africa’s largest country Algeria. More than 450 languages are spoken by the population of almost 1.4 billion people. Read more about India here.  

Map of India

India, Asia’s second largest country, has a population that is about times larger than in Argentina, South America’s second largest country!

8. Argentina

Argentina, South America’s second largest country is almost 5 times larger than Europe’s largest country Ukraine.

Argentina is about five times as large in land area as Yemen on the Arab Peninsula or about ten times as large as Italy. About a third of the population of the country live in and around the capital city Buenos Aires, South America’s second largest metropolitan city. Read more about Argentina here.

Argentina is less densely populated than Kazakstan.

9. Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country in the world and this huge country is about 20 times as large as Greece or 10 times as large as New Zealand. 

Kazakhstan is the second largest country with a Russian speaking population and is among the least populated countries in the world. Kazakstan is a transcontinental country as it has land area on the European and the Asian continents.

Map of Kazakhstan

With a population of 18 million, Kazakhstan houses about as many people as the Netherlands which would fit about 80 times into the land area of Kazakhstan!

10. Algeria

Algeria, Africa’s largest country, is about double the size of South Africa, which is the largest country in Southern Africa. Algeria is about four times as large as the Ukraine, Europe’s second largest country or ten times as large as the UK.

Map of Algeria

Largest Countries for Kids
per continent in total area

• largest country: Algeria

• China

  largest country:

Do you want to know more geo superlatives?

More continents superlatives and other fascinating geo superlatives can be found on our special page here:

Other Popular Pages

Continents Superlatives Resources

• Avery Koop. “The Population of China in Perspective.” VisualCapitalist. Published on 21 February 2021. Last accessed 16 November 2022
• Australia Tourism. “Travel to Australia.” VisitAustralia. Last accessed 16 November 2022
• European Union. “Living in the EU: Size and Population.” EU. Last accessed 16 November 2022

Image Credits on page Largest Countries: All images used on our website are copyright of the respective image owners. We predominantly use shutterstock.com images and own images if not otherwise mentioned. The maps images are all by Peter Hermes Furian.

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