What Are the World's Biggest Countries?
- Written By: L. S. Wynn
- Edited By: L. S. Wynn
- Last Modified Date: 28 April 2013
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Copyright Protected:
2003-2013 Conjecture Corporation
According to the CIA World Factbook, the total surface area of the earth is 510,072,000 square kilometers (196,939,900 square miles). Of this, 70.8% is water and 29.2% is land. The chart below organizes the top 25 countries in terms of size, starting with the biggest, Russia. Though it's not a self-governing country, as a reference point, Antarctica is about 14,000,000 square km (5,405,430 square miles).
Note that the sizes depict total area, which includes the land and water within each country's borders. Greenland, although an overseas administrative division of Denmark, is included here because it is self-governing.
| country | sq. km | sq. miles | size |
| Russia | 17,098,242 | 6,601,668 |  |
| Canada | 9,984,670 | 3,855,102 | |
| United States | 9,826,675 | 3,794,100 | |
| China | 9,596,961 | 3,705,407 | |
| Brazil | 8,514,877 | 3,287,612 | |
| Australia | 7,741,220 | 2,988,901 | |
| India | 3,287,263 | 1,269,219 | |
| Argentina | 2,780,400 | 1,073,518 | |
| Kazakhstan | 2,724,900 | 1,052,089 | |
| Algeria | 2,381,741 | 919,595 | |
| D.R. Congo | 2,344,858 | 905,355 | |
| Greenland | 2,166,086 | 836,330 | |
| Saudi Arabia | 2,149,690 | 830,000 | |
| Mexico | 1,964,375 | 758,449 | |
| Indonesia | 1,904,569 | 735,358 | |
| Sudan | 1,861,484 | 718,723 | |
| Libya | 1,759,540 | 679,362 | |
| Iran | 1,648,195 | 636,371 | |
| Mongolia | 1,564,116 | 603,908 | |
| Peru | 1,285,216 | 496,224 | |
| Chad | 1,284,000 | 495,755 | |
| Niger | 1,267,000 | 489,191 | |
| Angola | 1,246,700 | 481,353 | |
| Mali | 1,240,192 | 478,840 | |
| South Africa | 1,219,090 | 470,693 | |
| country | sq. km | sq. miles | size |
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Discuss this Article
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anon140027
Post 28 |
This is accurate. |
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anon111075
Post 26 |
Nepal is in south central Asia. this is the country having a highest peak in the whole world. Mt Everest and beside that this is the country where buddha was born. one of the historical place where we can find all naturally gifted things. there is no other country like nepal. |
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anon101021
Post 25 |
The size of Antarctica, is that including the ice on the ocean or not? |
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anon78896
Post 22 |
Why can't I see Nepal? |
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anon73999
Post 21 |
Has anyone heard of Greenland effect? It might help with the Greenland references. |
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anon72451
Post 20 |
what are the top three biggest countries in the world? |
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anon66935
Post 18 |
where is france, spain? this is so wrong get your facts right!
Moderator's reply: According to the CIA World Factbook, France is number 42 in terms of size, while Spain is 51. |
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anon66864
Post 17 |
they are right. ive seen in the map. greenland is really big. |
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anon62964
Post 15 |
How the heck is antarctica the second biggest country when its not even a country? this is wrong. antarctica is a continent with no countries in it! Moderator's reply: Although Antarctica was originally in our table for comparison purposes, we have moved the information to the first paragraph to avoid any confusion. |
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anon60869
Post 14 |
that list can't be right. greenland a massive country? just look at a map! |
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anon44279
Post 11 |
how is greenland not bigger than D.R Congo? that makes no sense.
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anon40006
Post 10 |
Well let's settle this arguement Gentlemen! If Russia is in Europe and it has it's own borders then it is the biggest country! |
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anon38446
Post 9 |
Why is nigeria not listed in this article, among the biggest nations? Moderator's reply: According to the CIA World Factbook, Nigeria is 923,768 square kilometers (356,668 square miles), making it the 32nd largest country in the world. |
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anon9431
Post 7 |
evchef -- That is not accurate, since Russia is the largest one in Europe. Despite the fact that the biggest part of it's territory is situated in Asia, its capital - Moscow is in Europe and therefore it's counted as european Country. If you compare only pure european territory, again Denmark is not the biggest, because Greenland (physiographically) is associated with North America, and again Ukraine is the biggest. I am writing this because I had a similar dispute with a colleague of mine... |
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evchef
Post 6 |
Actually, since Greenland (Grøndland) is part of Denmark, it is therefore a part of Europe (Europa) and Scandanavia (Scandinavien). That should make Denmark the biggest country in Europe.
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Dayton
Post 2 |
According to my cursory research, the three largest countries in Europe (since the split up of the USSR) are the Ukraine, followed by France and Spain. I was surprised... |
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anon577
Post 1 |
what are the three biggest countries in europe?
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