How Big Are the States in America?
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The 50 states that make up the United States have drastically different sizes. For example, the largest state, Alaska, is about 425 times bigger than the smallest, Rhode Island. The three largest states, Alaska, Texas, and California, make up about 30% of the entire country!
It is also interesting to note that due to sea erosion, the states along the coasts are slowly shrinking in size with one exception — Hawaii. Due to volcanic activity, Hawaii is actually increasing in size. Kilauea Volcano has been erupting since 1983, and has added almost one square mile of new land to the state since then.
The chart below shows the relative sizes of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. To help put some of the sizes in perspective, the sizes of some countries, such as France, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Greece, are also included. Please note that figures are in square miles and include the area of bodies of water.
| rank | state (country) | size in square miles | |
| 1 | Alaska | 656,425 |  |
| 2 | Texas | 268,601 | |
| - | (France) | 211,207 |  |
| 3 | California | 163,707 | |
| 4 | Montana | 147,046 | |
| 5 | New Mexico | 121,593 | |
| - | (Poland) | 120,725 | |
| 6 | Arizona | 114,006 | |
| 7 | Nevada | 110,567 | |
| 8 | Colorado | 104,100 | |
| 9 | Oregon | 98,386 | |
| 10 | Wyoming | 97,818 | |
| 11 | Michigan | 96,810 | |
| - | (United Kingdom) | 93,026 | |
| 12 | Minnesota | 86,943 | |
| 13 | Utah | 84,904 | |
| 14 | Idaho | 83,574 | |
| 15 | Kansas | 82,282 | |
| 16 | Nebraska | 77,358 | |
| 17 | South Dakota | 77,121 | |
| 18 | Washington | 71,303 | |
| 19 | North Dakota | 70,704 | |
| 20 | Oklahoma | 69,903 | |
| 21 | Missouri | 69,709 | |
| 22 | Florida | 65,758 | |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 65,503 | |
| 24 | Georgia | 59,441 | |
| 25 | Illinois | 57,918 | |
| 26 | Iowa | 56,276 | |
| 27 | New York | 54,475 | |
| 28 | North Carolina | 53,821 | |
| 29 | Arkansas | 53,182 | |
| 30 | Alabama | 52,423 | |
| 31 | Louisiana | 51,843 | |
| - | (Greece) | 50,944 | |
| 32 | Mississippi | 48,434 | |
| 33 | Pennsylvania | 46,058 | |
| 34 | Ohio | 44,828 | |
| - | (Bulgaria) | 42,823 | |
| 35 | Virginia | 42,769 | |
| 36 | Tennessee | 42,146 | |
| 37 | Kentucky | 40,411 | |
| - | (Iceland) | 39,768 | |
| 38 | Indiana | 36,420 | |
| 39 | Maine | 35,387 | |
| - | (Austria) | 32,374 | |
| 40 | South Carolina | 32,007 | |
| 41 | West Virginia | 24,231 | |
| - | (Denmark) | 16,629 | |
| 42 | Maryland | 12,407 | |
| 43 | Hawaii | 10,932 | |
| 44 | Massachusetts | 10,555 | |
| 45 | Vermont | 9,615 | |
| 46 | New Hampshire | 9,351 | |
| 47 | New Jersey | 8,722 | |
| 48 | Connecticut | 5,544 | |
| 49 | Delaware | 2,489 | |
| 50 | Rhode Island | 1,545 | |
| 51 | District of Columbia | 68 | |
| rank | state (country) | size in square miles | |
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14
Put American samoa and Guam on the list.
I am a fourth grader. - anon47799
13
which two states have a difference of 910 square miles? - anon41230
12
Ukraine is 233,089 square miles. Please post for more comparisons. --Chrystia B.
- anon38682
11
Put Germany into that list as well! - anon37840
10
Of course it is a good job for Texan pride that you didn't include Canada in your comparisons. Even Alaska is dwarfed by Nunavut Territory at 808,199 sq. miles, then after Alaska there are Quebec, the North West Territories, Ontario and British Columbia which are all bigger than Texas. - anon29697
9
It is also interesting to note that if each person on Earth (est. 9 billion) is allowed 16 Sq. Ft. of space (e.g. 4 Ft. by 4 Ft.) they will all fit inside Connecticut with room to spare! - anon23764
8
The joke goes that Alaskans had been considering dividing their state into two halves, but Texas protested too much. If that were to happen, Texas would then become the THIRD largest state! - anon21373
7
well, Texas is the biggest of the contiguous 48 states. - anon16516
6
Add Germany, at 137,847 sq mi, smaller than Montana - anon15926
5
I find it absolutely hilarious that we have 2 states in the U.S. that are larger than all of France. - anon13702
4
If you're interested in the rankings just by land mass alone, you can Google "quickfacts census" and you should find a site provided by the census bureau with this information. The data in this article was provided by the CIA World Factbook (see the link in the bottom lefthand corner of this page) which includes bodies of water in its area calculations. - anon13154
3
What is the state ranking after subtracting the area of bodies of water within each state? - anon6633
2
Wow! I didn't know that Alaska was the biggest, although now that I think about it, it makes sense. It seems like you always hear Texas when talking about the biggest (size) US state. - malena
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Source: CIA World Factbook 2002
Last Modified: 07 October 2009
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