Largest Countries in the World by Area

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Fact-checked by Sid Natividad

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Published on 19 November 2025

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Updated on 9 February 2026

A global ranking of the world’s largest countries by total surface area, based on the latest international geographic data.

Aerial view of Lake Baikal in Russia, the largest country by area — Russia is the world’s largest country by total area (Shutterstock)

Surface area refers to the combined land and water within a country’s international boundaries or coastlines. This includes inland lakes and some coastal waterways.

10 largest countries by area

These are the world’s ten largest sovereign states, ranked by total surface area:

Russia
Canada
USA
China
Brazil
Australia
India
Argentina
Kazakhstan
Algeria

10 smallest countries by area

These are the ten smallest independent countries in the world:

Vatican City
Monaco
Nauru
Tuvalu
San Marino
Liechtenstein
Marshall Islands
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Maldives
Malta

Note: Dependent territories are included in the full ranking but excluded from the top-10 lists above, as they are not sovereign states.

Complete ranking

The table below ranks the world’s countries and some territories by total surface area in square kilometers (sq km) and square miles (sq mi). This includes areas under inland bodies of water and some coastal waterways.

Total area figures can vary slightly between sources due to different approaches to disputed territories, inland waters, and offshore claims.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook provides one of the most consistent global datasets, and its values are used here for comparability across countries.

Ranking	Country	Sq km	Sq mi	Continent
1	Russia	17,098,242	6,601,668	Asia, Europe
2	Antarctica	14,200,000	5,482,651	Antarctica
3	Canada	9,984,670	3,855,103	North America
4	United States	9,833,517	3,796,742	North America
5	China	9,596,960	3,705,407	Asia
6	Brazil	8,515,770	3,287,957	South America
7	Australia	7,741,220	2,988,902	Australia and Oceania
8	India	3,287,263	1,269,219	Asia
9	Argentina	2,780,400	1,073,518	South America
10	Kazakhstan	2,724,900	1,052,090	Asia, Europe
11	Algeria	2,381,740	919,595	Africa
12	Congo, Democratic Republic of the	2,344,858	905,355	Africa
13	Greenland	2,166,086	836,331	North America
14	Saudi Arabia	2,149,690	830,000	Asia
15	Mexico	1,964,375	758,449	North America
16	Indonesia	1,904,569	735,358	Asia, Oceania
17	Sudan	1,861,484	718,723	Africa
18	Libya	1,759,540	679,362	Africa
19	Iran	1,648,195	636,372	Asia
20	Mongolia	1,564,116	603,909	Asia
21	Peru	1,285,216	496,225	South America
22	Chad	1,284,000	495,755	Africa
23	Niger	1,267,000	489,191	Africa
24	Angola	1,246,700	481,354	Africa
25	Mali	1,240,192	478,841	Africa
26	South Africa	1,219,090	470,693	Africa
27	Colombia	1,138,910	439,736	South America
28	Ethiopia	1,104,300	426,373	Africa
29	Bolivia	1,098,581	424,165	South America
30	Mauritania	1,030,700	397,956	Africa
31	Egypt	1,001,450	386,662	Africa
32	Tanzania	947,300	365,755	Africa
33	Nigeria	923,768	356,669	Africa
34	Venezuela	912,050	352,144	South America
35	Namibia	824,292	318,261	Africa
36	Mozambique	799,380	308,642	Africa
37	Pakistan	796,095	307,374	Asia
38	Turkey (Turkiye)	783,562	302,535	Asia, Europe
39	Chile	756,102	291,933	South America
40	Zambia	752,618	290,587	Africa
41	Morocco	716,550	276,662	Africa
42	Myanmar	676,578	261,228	Asia
43	Afghanistan	652,230	251,827	Asia
44	South Sudan	644,329	248,777	Africa
45	France	643,801	248,573	Europe
46	Somalia	637,657	246,201	Africa
47	Central African Republic	622,984	240,535	Africa
48	Ukraine	603,550	233,032	Europe
49	Madagascar	587,041	226,658	Africa
50	Botswana	581,730	224,607	Africa
51	Kenya	580,367	224,081	Africa
52	Yemen	527,968	203,850	Asia
53	Thailand	513,120	198,117	Asia
54	Spain	505,370	195,124	Europe
55	Turkmenistan	488,100	188,456	Asia
56	Cameroon	475,440	183,568	Africa
57	Papua New Guinea	462,840	178,704	Australia and Oceania
58	Sweden	450,295	173,860	Europe
59	Uzbekistan	447,400	172,742	Asia
60	Iraq	438,317	169,235	Asia
61	Paraguay	406,752	157,048	South America
62	Zimbabwe	390,757	150,872	Africa
63	Japan	377,915	145,914	Asia
64	Germany	357,022	137,847	Europe
65	Congo, Republic of the	342,000	132,047	Africa
66	Finland	338,145	130,559	Europe
67	Vietnam	331,210	127,881	Asia
68	Malaysia	329,847	127,355	Asia
69	Norway	323,802	125,021	Europe
70	Cote d'Ivoire	322,463	124,504	Africa
71	Poland	312,685	120,728	Europe
72	Oman	309,500	119,499	Asia
73	Italy	301,340	116,348	Europe
74	Philippines	300,000	115,831	Asia
75	Ecuador	283,561	109,484	South America
76	Burkina Faso	274,200	105,869	Africa
77	New Zealand	268,838	103,799	Australia and Oceania
78	Gabon	267,667	103,347	Africa
79	Guinea	245,857	94,926	Africa
80	United Kingdom	243,610	94,058	Europe
81	Uganda	241,038	93,065	Africa
82	Ghana	238,533	92,098	Africa
83	Romania	238,391	92,043	Europe
84	Laos	236,800	91,429	Asia
85	Guyana	214,969	83,000	South America
86	Belarus	207,600	80,155	Europe
87	Kyrgyzstan	199,951	77,202	Asia
88	Senegal	196,722	75,955	Africa
89	Syria	187,437	72,370	Asia
90	Cambodia	181,035	69,898	Asia
91	Uruguay	176,215	68,037	South America
92	Suriname	163,820	63,251	South America
93	Tunisia	163,610	63,170	Africa
94	Bangladesh	148,460	57,321	Asia
95	Nepal	147,181	56,827	Asia
96	Tajikistan	144,100	55,637	Asia
97	Greece	131,957	50,949	Europe
98	Nicaragua	130,370	50,336	North America
99	Korea, North	120,538	46,540	Asia
100	Malawi	118,484	45,747	Africa
101	Eritrea	117,600	45,406	Africa
102	Benin	112,622	43,484	Africa
103	Honduras	112,090	43,278	North America
104	Liberia	111,369	43,000	Africa
105	Bulgaria	110,879	42,811	Europe
106	Cuba	110,860	42,803	North America
107	Guatemala	108,889	42,042	North America
108	Iceland	103,000	39,769	Europe
109	Korea, South	99,720	38,502	Asia
110	Hungary	93,028	35,918	Europe
111	Portugal	92,090	35,556	Europe
112	Jordan	89,342	34,495	Asia
113	Azerbaijan	86,600	33,436	Asia, Europe
114	Austria	83,871	32,383	Europe
115	United Arab Emirates	83,600	32,278	Asia
116	Czechia	78,867	30,451	Europe
117	Serbia	77,474	29,913	Europe
118	Panama	75,420	29,120	North America
119	Sierra Leone	71,740	27,699	Africa
120	Ireland	70,273	27,133	Europe
121	Georgia	69,700	26,911	Asia, Europe
122	Sri Lanka	65,610	25,332	Asia
123	Lithuania	65,300	25,212	Europe
124	Latvia	64,589	24,938	Europe
125	Svalbard	62,045	23,956	Europe
126	Togo	56,785	21,925	Africa
127	Croatia	56,594	21,851	Europe
128	Bosnia and Herzegovina	51,197	19,767	Europe
129	Costa Rica	51,100	19,730	North America
130	Slovakia	49,035	18,933	Europe
131	Dominican Republic	48,670	18,792	North America
132	Estonia	45,228	17,463	Europe
133	Denmark	43,094	16,639	Europe
134	Netherlands	41,543	16,040	Europe
135	Switzerland	41,277	15,937	Europe
136	Bhutan	38,394	14,824	Asia
137	Guinea-Bissau	36,125	13,948	Africa
138	Taiwan	35,980	13,892	Asia
139	Moldova	33,851	13,070	Europe
140	Belgium	30,528	11,787	Europe
141	Lesotho	30,355	11,720	Africa
142	Armenia	29,743	11,484	Asia
143	Solomon Islands	28,896	11,157	Australia and Oceania
144	Albania	28,748	11,100	Europe
145	Equatorial Guinea	28,051	10,831	Africa
146	Burundi	27,830	10,745	Africa
147	Haiti	27,750	10,714	North America
148	Rwanda	26,338	10,169	Africa
149	North Macedonia	25,713	9,928	Europe
150	Djibouti	23,200	8,958	Africa
151	Belize	22,966	8,867	North America
152	Israel	21,937	8,470	Asia
153	El Salvador	21,041	8,124	North America
154	Slovenia	20,273	7,827	Europe
155	New Caledonia	18,575	7,172	Australia and Oceania
156	Fiji	18,274	7,056	Australia and Oceania
157	Kuwait	17,818	6,880	Asia
158	Eswatini	17,364	6,704	Africa
159	Timor-Leste	14,874	5,743	Asia
160	Bahamas, The	13,880	5,359	North America
161	Montenegro	13,812	5,333	Europe
162	Vanuatu	12,189	4,706	Australia and Oceania
163	Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)	12,173	4,700	South America
164	Qatar	11,586	4,473	Asia
165	Gambia, The	11,300	4,363	Africa
166	Jamaica	10,991	4,244	North America
167	Kosovo	10,887	4,203	Europe
168	Lebanon	10,400	4,015	Asia
169	Cyprus	9,251	3,572	Asia
170	Puerto Rico	9,104	3,515	North America
171	Palestine	6,020	2,320	Asia
172	Brunei	5,765	2,226	Asia
173	Trinidad and Tobago	5,128	1,980	North America
174	French Polynesia	4,167	1,609	Australia and Oceania
175	Cabo Verde	4,033	1,557	Africa
176	South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands	3,903	1,507	South America
177	Samoa	2,831	1,093	Australia and Oceania
178	Luxembourg	2,586	998	Europe
179	Comoros	2,235	863	Africa
180	Mauritius	2,040	788	Africa
181	Virgin Islands	1,910	737	North America
182	Faroe Islands	1,393	538	Europe
183	Hong Kong	1,108	428	Asia
184	Sao Tome and Principe	964	372	Africa
185	Turks and Caicos Islands	948	366	North America
186	Kiribati	811	313	Australia and Oceania
187	Bahrain	760	293	Asia
188	Dominica	751	290	North America
189	Tonga	747	288	Australia and Oceania
190	Singapore	719	278	Asia
191	Micronesia, Federated States of	702	271	Australia and Oceania
192	Saint Lucia	616	238	North America
193	Isle of Man	572	221	Europe
194	Guam	544	210	Australia and Oceania
195	Andorra	468	181	Europe
196	Northern Mariana Islands	464	179	Australia and Oceania
197	Palau	459	177	Australia and Oceania
198	Seychelles	455	176	Africa
199	Curacao	444	171	North America
200	Antigua and Barbuda	443	171	North America
201	Barbados	430	166	North America
202	Heard Island and McDonald Islands	412	159	Antarctica
203	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	394	152	Africa
204	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	389	150	North America
205	Jan Mayen	377	146	Europe
206	Grenada	344	133	North America
207	Malta	316	122	Europe
208	Maldives	298	115	Asia
209	Cayman Islands	264	102	North America
210	Saint Kitts and Nevis	261	101	North America
211	Niue	260	100	Australia and Oceania
212	Akrotiri and Dhekelia	254	98	Europe
213	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	242	93	North America
214	Cook Islands	236	91	Australia and Oceania
215	American Samoa	224	86	Australia and Oceania
216	Marshall Islands	181	70	Australia and Oceania
217	Aruba	180	69	North America
218	Liechtenstein	160	62	Europe
219	British Virgin Islands	151	58	North America
220	Wallis and Futuna	142	55	Australia and Oceania
221	Christmas Island	135	52	Australia and Oceania
222	Jersey	116	45	Europe
223	Montserrat	102	39	North America
224	Anguilla	91	35	North America
225	Guernsey	78	30	Europe
226	San Marino	61	24	Europe
227	British Indian Ocean Territory	60	23	Asia
228	Bermuda	54	21	North America
229	Saint Martin	50	19	North America
230	Bouvet Island	49	19	Antarctica
231	Pitcairn Islands	47	18	Australia and Oceania
232	Norfolk Island	36	14	Australia and Oceania
233	Sint Maarten	34	13	North America
234	Macau	28	11	Asia
235	Tuvalu	26	10	Australia and Oceania
236	Saint Barthelemy	25	10	North America
237	Nauru	21	8	Australia and Oceania
238	Cocos (Keeling) Islands	14	5	Australia and Oceania
239	Tokelau	12	5	Australia and Oceania
240	Paracel Islands	8	3	Asia
241	Wake Island	7	2.7	Australia and Oceania
242	Gibraltar	7	2.7	Europe
243	Clipperton Island	6	2.3	North America
244	Ashmore and Cartier Islands	5	1.9	Australia and Oceania
245	Navassa Island	5	1.9	North America
246	Spratly Islands	5	1.9	Asia
247	Coral Sea Islands	3	1.2	Australia and Oceania
248	Monaco	2	0.77	Europe
249	Holy See (Vatican City)	0.44	0.17	Europe

While size doesn’t necessarily correlate with population, wealth, or political influence, land area remains an important geographic and strategic characteristic for each nation.

Largest countries by continent

Caitriona Maria

Education writer at Facts Institute | Website

Caitriona Maria is an education writer and owner of The Facts Institute. With seven years of teaching experience and a background in educational content, she specialises in creating clear reference resources about countries, geography and global topics.