List of countries and outlying territories by land area
Encyclopedia
This is a list of the 60 largest sovereign state
s and dependent territories of the world, sorted by land area
only, based on entities on the ISO standard ISO 3166-1
.
For statistical purposes, dependent territories are listed separately from their sovereign states and are set off in italics. The figures exclude inland water bodies
(lakes, reservoirs, rivers) and marine internal waters (coastal waters). Territorial waters
and Exclusive Economic Zone
s are not included.
Also not included in the list are uninhabited dependent territories – including various countries' claims to parts of the continent of Antarctica – and entities such as the European Union
that have some degree of sovereignty but do not consider themselves to be sovereign countries or dependent territories. The total land area of the world is 148940000 km² (57,506,055.5 sq mi) (about 29.1% of the Earth's surface area).
}
|-
| 43 || Somalia || 627337242,216.2 ||
|-
| 44 || Central African Republic || 622984 240,535.5 ||
|-
| 45 || || 620000 239,383.3 || Became independent from Sudan
on 9 July 2011
|-
| 46 || Ukraine || 603700 233,089.9 || Largest country wholly in Europe
|-
| 47 || Botswana || 585370 226,012.6 ||
|-
| 48 || Madagascar || 581540 224,533.8 ||
|-
| 49 || Kenya || 569250 219,788.7 ||
|-
| 50 || Yemen || 527970 203,850.4 ||
|-
| 51 || Thailand || 511770 197,595.5 ||
|-
| 52 || Spain || 499542 192,874.2 ||
|-
| 53 || Turkmenistan || 488100 188,456.5 ||
|-
| 54 || Cameroon || 469440 181,251.8 ||
|-
| 55 || Papua New Guinea || 452860 174,850.2 ||
|-
| 56 || Morocco || 446300 172,317.4 ||
|-
| 57 || Iraq || 432162 166,858.7 ||
|-
| 58 || Uzbekistan || 425400 164,247.9 ||
|-
| 59 || Sweden || 410934 158,662.5 ||
|-
| 60 || Paraguay || 397300 153,398.4 ||
|}
Sovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
s and dependent territories of the world, sorted by land area
Area
Area is a quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional surface or shape in the plane. Area can be understood as the amount of material with a given thickness that would be necessary to fashion a model of the shape, or the amount of paint necessary to cover the surface with a single coat...
only, based on entities on the ISO standard ISO 3166-1
ISO 3166-1
ISO 3166-1 is part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , and defines codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. The official name of the standard is Codes for the representation of names...
.
For statistical purposes, dependent territories are listed separately from their sovereign states and are set off in italics. The figures exclude inland water bodies
Internal waters
A nation's internal waters covers all water and waterways on the landward side of the baseline from which a nation's territorial waters is defined. It includes waterways such as rivers and canals, and sometimes the water within small bays. According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of...
(lakes, reservoirs, rivers) and marine internal waters (coastal waters). Territorial waters
Territorial waters
Territorial waters, or a territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most from the baseline of a coastal state...
and Exclusive Economic Zone
Exclusive Economic Zone
Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...
s are not included.
Also not included in the list are uninhabited dependent territories – including various countries' claims to parts of the continent of Antarctica – and entities such as the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
that have some degree of sovereignty but do not consider themselves to be sovereign countries or dependent territories. The total land area of the world is 148940000 km² (57,506,055.5 sq mi) (about 29.1% of the Earth's surface area).
Countries by land area
Rank | Country | Area (km2) | Area (sq mi) | Notes |
1 | Russia | 16377742 | 6,323,481.5 | Largest country in the world World World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth.... . |
2 | People's Republic of China | 9569901 | 3,694,959.4 | Largest country wholly in Asia Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population... . |
3 | United States | 9161966 | 3,537,454.8 | Second-largest country in the Americas by total area, but largest by land area. Includes 50 state U.S. state A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of... s and the District of Columbia. |
4 | Canada | 9093507 | 3,511,022.7 | Largest country in the Americas by total area, but second-largest by land area. Also the country with the longest coastline. |
5 | Brazil | 8456510 | 3,265,076.8 | Largest country in South America South America South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east... and also in the Southern Hemisphere Southern Hemisphere The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"... |
6 | Australia | 7617930 | 2,941,299.2 | Largest island country and largest country in Oceania Oceania Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago... and also completely within the Southern Hemisphere |
7 | India | 2973193 | 1,147,956.2 | Largest country in South Asia South Asia South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east... and 3rd largest country in Asia after Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... and China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture... . |
8 | Argentina | 2736690 | 1,056,641.9 | Second largest country of South America. |
9 | Kazakhstan | 2669800 | 1,030,815.5 | Largest landlocked Landlocked A landlocked country is a country entirely enclosed by land, or whose only coastlines lie on closed seas. There are 48 landlocked countries in the world, including partially recognized states... country in the world. |
10 | Algeria | 2381741 | 919,595.3 | Largest country in Africa Africa Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area... and the Arab World Arab world The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the... . |
11 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 2267600 | 875,525.3 | Largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara... . |
12 | Greenland | 2166086 | 836,330.5 | Largest dependent territory Dependent territory A dependent territory, dependent area or dependency is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a State, and remains politically outside of the controlling state's integral area.... in the world. |
13 | Saudi Arabia | 2149690 | 829,999.9 | Largest country in Western Asia. |
14 | Mexico | 1923040 | 742,489.9 | |
15 | Indonesia | 1919440 | 741,099.9 | Largest archipelago Archipelago An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago... in the world and largest country in South-East Asia. |
16 | Sudan | 1885000 | 727,802.6 | Previously the largest country in Africa and the Arab World, before the independence of South Sudan South Sudan South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more... on 9 July 2011. |
17 | Libya | 1759540 | 679,362.2 | Third Largest country in north Africa North Africa North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and... |
18 | Mongolia | 1553556 | 599,831.3 | |
19 | Iran | 1531595 | 591,352.1 | Second Largest country in Western Asia |
20 | Peru | 1280000 | 494,210.8 | |
21 | Niger | 1266700 | 489,075.6 | |
22 | Chad | 1259200 | 486,179.8 | |
23 | Angola | 1246700 | 481,353.6 | |
24 | Mali | 1220000 | 471,044.6 | |
25 | South Africa | 1219912 | 471,010.7 | |
26 | Ethiopia | 1119683 | 432,312 | |
27 | Bolivia | 1084390 | 418,685.3 | |
28 | Colombia | 1038700 | 401,044.3 | |
29 | Mauritania | 1030400 | 397,839.7 | |
30 | Egypt | 995450 | 384,345.4 | |
31 | Nigeria | 910768 | 351,649.5 | |
32 | Tanzania | 886037 | 342,100.8 | |
33 | Venezuela | 882050 | 340,561.4 | |
34 | Namibia | 825418 | 318,695.7 | |
35 | Pakistan | 796095 | 307,374 | |
36 | Mozambique | 784090 | 302,738.8 | |
37 | Turkey | 770760 | 297,592.1 | |
38 | Chile | 748800 | 289,113.3 | |
39 | Zambia | 740724 | 285,995.1 | |
40 | Myanmar | 657740 | 253,954.8 | |
41 | Afghanistan | 647500 | 250,001.1 | |
42 | Early Modern France | 640053 | 247,125.8 |
|-
| 43 || Somalia || 627337
|-
| 44 || Central African Republic || 622984
|-
| 45 || || 620000
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
on 9 July 2011
|-
| 46 || Ukraine || 603700
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
|-
| 47 || Botswana || 585370
|-
| 48 || Madagascar || 581540
|-
| 49 || Kenya || 569250
|-
| 50 || Yemen || 527970
|-
| 51 || Thailand || 511770
|-
| 52 || Spain || 499542
|-
| 53 || Turkmenistan || 488100
|-
| 54 || Cameroon || 469440
|-
| 55 || Papua New Guinea || 452860
|-
| 56 || Morocco || 446300
|-
| 57 || Iraq || 432162
|-
| 58 || Uzbekistan || 425400
|-
| 59 || Sweden || 410934
|-
| 60 || Paraguay || 397300
|}
- Figure refers to Mainland ChinaMainland ChinaMainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
only. It excludes areas controlled by the Republic of ChinaRepublic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
(commonly known as "TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
").
Source
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.