Largest countries in the world by land area

The largest land footprints

Russia has 16,376,870 km² of land in the World Bank’s 2023 series, about 1.74 times the land area of second-ranked China. The ten largest entries together account for 54.6% of the land summed across this comparison. That is a share of covered countries, not of the entire Earth: Antarctica and other land outside the directory are excluded.

The upper end spans very different environments. Russia and Canada extend deep into northern latitudes, Brazil includes much of the Amazon basin, and Australia covers a continental landmass. Their size alone does not reveal how much land is inhabited, farmed or suitable for a particular use. A square kilometre of desert and a square kilometre of dense urban development contribute equally to this measure.

Complete land-area ranking

Every World Bank entry below uses the same 2023 land-area indicator. Inland water is excluded. The population column is a separately dated July 2026 projection for context; it does not affect rank and should not be combined with this land column to claim a matched-year density estimate.

195 countries. Scroll the table for all entries. Base rank follows the page’s main measure; sorting another column keeps that rank.

Countries by 2023 land area, largest first; Vatican City uses its official geography figure.

Base rank	Country ↕	Land area, km² ↕	Population, July 2026 ↕
1	Russia	16,376,870.00	143,394,458
2	China	9,388,210.00	1,412,914,089
3	United States	9,147,420.00	349,035,494
4	Canada	8,788,700.00	40,467,728
5	Brazil	8,358,140.00	213,562,666
6	Australia	7,692,020.00	27,227,096
7	India	2,973,190.00	1,476,625,576
8	Argentina	2,736,690.00	46,003,734
9	Kazakhstan	2,699,700.00	21,083,626
10	Algeria	2,381,740.00	48,028,334
11	Democratic Republic of the Congo	2,267,050.00	116,452,162
12	Saudi Arabia	2,149,690.00	35,165,787
13	Mexico	1,943,950.00	132,997,658
14	Indonesia	1,892,555.47	287,886,782
15	Sudan	1,868,000.00	53,282,719
16	Libya	1,759,540.00	7,539,851
17	Iran	1,622,500.00	93,168,497
18	Mongolia	1,558,499.79	3,556,798
19	Peru	1,280,000.00	34,922,148
20	Niger	1,266,700.00	28,814,878
21	Chad	1,259,200.00	21,560,380
22	Angola	1,246,700.00	40,215,179
23	Mali	1,220,190.00	25,932,275
24	South Africa	1,213,090.00	65,453,084
25	Ethiopia	1,128,498.80	138,902,185
26	Colombia	1,109,500.00	53,936,226
27	Bolivia	1,083,300.00	12,749,291
28	Mauritania	1,030,700.00	5,461,319
29	Egypt	995,450.00	120,101,175
30	Nigeria	910,770.00	242,431,832
31	Tanzania	885,800.00	72,563,780
32	Venezuela	882,050.00	28,633,711
33	Namibia	823,290.00	3,153,246
34	Mozambique	786,380.00	36,639,851
35	Pakistan	770,880.00	259,299,791
36	Turkey	769,630.00	87,926,082
37	Zambia	743,390.00	22,521,915
38	Chile	742,831.64	19,945,850
39	Myanmar	652,670.00	55,184,819
40	Afghanistan	652,230.00	45,047,069
41	South Sudan	631,930.00	12,436,037
42	Somalia	627,340.00	20,305,907
43	Central African Republic	622,980.00	5,698,984
44	Madagascar	581,800.00	33,522,052
45	Kenya	580,876.30	58,636,412
46	Ukraine	579,400.00	39,535,849
47	Botswana	566,730.00	2,603,388
48	France	538,950.00	66,746,401
49	Yemen	527,970.00	42,961,653
50	Thailand	510,890.00	71,559,614
51	Spain	499,697.40	47,850,793
52	Cameroon	472,710.00	30,640,817
53	Turkmenistan	469,930.00	7,736,632
54	Papua New Guinea	452,860.00	10,947,848
55	Morocco	446,300.00	38,762,441
56	Uzbekistan	440,650.00	37,724,223
57	Iraq	434,130.00	48,007,437
58	Sweden	407,270.00	10,701,047
59	Paraguay	396,012.03	7,095,279
60	Zimbabwe	386,850.00	17,273,580
61	Japan	364,569.27	122,427,731
62	Norway	364,270.00	5,652,989
63	Germany	349,430.00	83,644,258
64	Republic of the Congo	341,500.00	6,637,785
65	Malaysia	328,550.00	36,385,115
66	Ivory Coast	318,000.00	33,494,346
67	Vietnam	313,429.00	102,177,431
68	Oman	309,500.00	5,671,458
69	Poland	306,270.00	37,843,188
70	Finland	303,960.00	5,621,739
71	Philippines	298,170.00	117,724,471
72	Italy	295,720.00	58,926,166
73	Burkina Faso	273,600.00	24,601,700
74	New Zealand	263,310.00	5,287,479
75	Gabon	257,670.00	2,647,399
76	Ecuador	248,360.00	18,444,506
77	Guinea	245,720.00	15,441,993
78	United Kingdom	241,930.00	69,931,528
79	Laos	230,800.00	7,974,017
80	Romania	230,080.00	18,800,605
81	Ghana	227,533.00	35,697,557
82	Guyana	211,140.00	840,890
83	Belarus	202,983.00	8,937,018
84	Uganda	200,520.00	52,761,469
85	Senegal	192,530.00	19,366,548
86	Kyrgyzstan	191,800.00	7,400,465
87	Syria	183,630.00	26,472,497
88	Cambodia	176,520.00	18,051,219
89	Uruguay	175,020.00	3,382,537
90	Suriname	160,507.61	645,256
91	Tunisia	155,360.00	12,415,138
92	Nepal	143,350.00	29,629,410
93	Tajikistan	138,790.00	10,978,599
94	Bangladesh	129,980.00	177,818,044
95	Greece	128,900.00	9,897,115
96	Eritrea	121,178.20	3,682,669
97	North Korea	120,410.00	26,633,691
98	Nicaragua	120,340.00	7,097,329
99	Benin	112,760.00	15,170,419
100	Honduras	111,890.00	11,184,760
101	Bulgaria	108,560.00	6,667,659
102	Guatemala	107,160.00	18,967,978
103	Cuba	103,800.00	10,892,659
104	Iceland	100,830.00	402,329
105	South Korea	97,600.00	51,600,388
106	Liberia	96,320.00	5,853,949
107	Malawi	94,280.00	22,785,535
108	Portugal	91,605.60	10,395,362
109	Hungary	91,260.00	9,585,818
110	Jordan	88,794.00	11,589,532
111	Serbia	84,090.00	6,641,964
112	Azerbaijan	82,650.00	10,454,855
113	Austria	82,520.00	9,107,266
114	Czech Republic	77,167.31	10,527,781
115	Panama	74,180.00	4,625,718
116	Sierra Leone	72,180.00	8,996,745
117	United Arab Emirates	71,020.00	11,574,682
118	Georgia	69,490.00	3,804,642
119	Ireland	68,890.00	5,356,950
120	Lithuania	62,600.00	2,797,338
121	Latvia	62,230.00	1,835,935
122	Sri Lanka	61,860.00	23,348,315
123	Croatia	55,960.00	3,822,345
124	Togo	54,390.00	9,930,918
125	Bosnia and Herzegovina	51,200.00	3,114,242
126	Costa Rica	51,060.00	5,174,789
127	Dominican Republic	48,198.02	11,609,500
128	Slovakia	48,080.00	5,451,342
129	Estonia	42,730.00	1,331,062
130	Denmark	40,000.00	6,023,520
131	Switzerland	39,509.63	9,007,798
132	Bhutan	38,140.00	802,214
133	Netherlands	33,670.00	18,448,775
134	Moldova	32,930.00	2,961,253
135	Belgium	30,494.00	11,774,642
136	Lesotho	30,360.00	2,389,336
137	Armenia	28,199.44	2,930,915
138	Guinea-Bissau	28,120.00	2,297,808
139	Equatorial Guinea	28,050.00	1,984,468
140	Solomon Islands	27,990.00	858,288
141	Haiti	27,560.00	12,037,506
142	Albania	27,400.00	2,751,025
143	Burundi	25,680.00	14,729,157
144	North Macedonia	25,220.00	1,804,063
145	Rwanda	24,670.00	14,889,693
146	Djibouti	23,180.00	1,199,459
147	Belize	22,810.00	428,644
148	Israel	21,640.00	9,647,689
149	El Salvador	20,720.00	6,391,253
150	Slovenia	20,134.50	2,114,573
151	Fiji	18,270.00	937,282
152	Kuwait	17,820.00	5,102,773
153	Eswatini	17,200.00	1,269,859
154	Timor-Leste	14,870.00	1,436,923
155	Montenegro	13,450.00	626,233
156	Vanuatu	12,190.00	342,564
157	Qatar	11,490.00	3,173,559
158	Jamaica	10,830.00	2,833,403
159	Lebanon	10,230.00	5,897,467
160	Gambia	10,120.00	2,884,079
161	Bahamas	10,010.00	404,628
162	Cyprus	9,240.00	1,382,334
163	Palestine	6,025.00	5,692,790
164	Brunei	5,270.00	469,775
165	Trinidad and Tobago	5,130.00	1,513,268
166	Cape Verde	4,030.00	529,630
167	Samoa	2,780.00	220,528
168	Luxembourg	2,574.46	687,448
169	Mauritius	1,997.00	1,265,059
170	Comoros	1,861.00	899,010
171	Sao Tome and Principe	960.00	244,994
172	Kiribati	810.00	138,445
173	Bahrain	800.00	1,675,572
174	Dominica	750.00	65,511
175	Tonga	720.00	103,291
176	Singapore	718.00	5,905,748
177	Micronesia	700.00	114,183
178	Saint Lucia	610.00	180,488
179	Andorra	470.00	83,753
180	Seychelles	460.00	134,959
180	Palau	460.00	17,614
182	Antigua and Barbuda	440.00	94,626
183	Barbados	430.00	282,724
184	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	390.00	99,245
185	Grenada	340.00	117,362
186	Malta	320.00	549,011
187	Maldives	298.00	531,517
188	Saint Kitts and Nevis	260.00	46,992
189	Marshall Islands	180.00	35,075
190	Liechtenstein	160.00	40,368
191	San Marino	60.00	33,605
192	Tuvalu	30.00	9,362
193	Nauru	20.00	12,101
194	Monaco	2.08	38,087
195	Vatican City	0.44	506

Download the complete data as CSV ↓

The small end of the same dataset appears on our smallest countries page. Keeping the two pages on one definition makes them directly comparable. Taiwan has no observation in the selected World Bank land series and is unranked here; its absence is not a statement about its size or political status.

Why Canada can rank second on another list

A total-area ranking combines land with inland water. Canada has a substantial freshwater area, so its position differs between total-area and land-only comparisons. Calling a table “land area” while importing total-area figures produces a misleading answer even if each individual figure came from a reputable source.

United States–China comparisons are especially sensitive to definitions. Lists may handle coastal waters, territorial coverage and disputed areas differently. The useful question is not which number looks most familiar, but whether both countries were measured using the same convention. This page follows a single published land series and does not combine numbers from national fact sheets with different definitions.

Offshore exclusive economic zones are also excluded. They describe maritime rights over a much wider space and cannot be added to terrestrial area without changing the question. An island state may have a small land footprint and a very large maritime zone.

Compare size without a distorted map

A world map is useful for location, but its projection can exaggerate high-latitude land. The comparison below works directly from the numerical areas, so it does not depend on how a map stretches Russia or Canada. A ratio of two means twice the land area, not twice the length or twice the population.

For population density, use our matched-year density table. For economic scale, use GDP. Land area is a valuable measure of physical extent, but it cannot by itself establish economic importance, living standards, usable space or the population a country can support.