What is the largest country in the world by land area?

Written by FWD EDITORS

When measuring country size, two common metrics are land area and total area, which includes inland water such as lakes, rivers, streams, and other bodies of water. This list ranks countries by land area. It includes the 193 members of the United Nations, excluding the two permanent observer states, the Holy See (The Vatican) and the State of Palestine.

With a land area of 16,377,742 square kilometres, Russia is the world’s largest country by land area. China is a distant second with 9,326,410 square kilometres of land. It is just under three-fifths the size of Russia. At the opposite end is Monaco. Its land area measures 2 square kilometres, making it the smallest country on the list.

The 10 largest countries

Together, the 10 largest countries account for more than half the land area covered by the 193 members of the United Nations. Every country in the top 10 has at least 2 million square kilometres of land. Every inhabited continent is represented. The United States follows Russia and China with 9,152,064 square kilometres. It is slightly larger than Canada, whose land area measures 9,093,507 square kilometres. Brazil ranks fifth with 8,358,140 square kilometres of land. The top 10 largest countries include:

  1. Russia - 16,377,742 square kilometres

  2. China - 9,326,410 square kilometres

  3. United States of America - 9,152,064 square kilometres

  4. Canada - 9,093,507 square kilometres

  5. Brazil - 8,358,140 square kilometres

  6. Australia - 7,682,300 square kilometres

  7. India - 2,973,193 square kilometres

  8. Argentina - 2,736,690 square kilometres

  9. Kazakhstan - 2,699,700 square kilometres

  10. Algeria - 2,381,740 square kilometres

The 10 smallest countries

The 10 smallest countries combined cover 1,670 square kilometres. Monaco is the smallest country in the world with an area of two square kilometres. It is one-tenth the size of the island nation of Nauru, the world's second-smallest country. The smallest countries in the world are all islands except for Liechtenstein.

  1. Monaco - 2 square kilometres

  2. Nauru - 21 square kilometres

  3. Tuvalu - 26 square kilometres

  4. San Marino - 61 square kilometres

  5. Liechtenstein - 160 square kilometres

  6. Marshall Islands - 181 square kilometres

  7. Saint Kitts and Nevis - 261 square kilometres

  8. Maldives - 298 square kilometres

  9. Malta - 316 square kilometres

  10. Grenada - 344 square kilometres

The full list

The table below lists countries by land area. Data comes from the World Bank with some light processing by the FWD team. The data is available for free as CSV and Excel files.

Country Year Land area (km²)
Russia202616,377,742
China20269,326,410
United States of America20269,152,064
Canada20269,093,507
Brazil20268,358,140
Australia20267,682,300
India20262,973,193
Argentina20262,736,690
Kazakhstan20262,699,700
Algeria20262,381,740
Democratic Republic of Congo20262,267,048
Saudi Arabia20262,149,690
Mexico20261,943,945
Sudan20261,861,484
Indonesia20261,811,569
Libya20261,759,540
Mongolia20261,553,556
Iran20261,531,595
Peru20261,279,996
Niger20261,266,700
Chad20261,259,200
Angola20261,246,700
Mali20261,220,190
South Africa20261,214,470
Ethiopia20261,096,570
Bolivia20261,083,301
Colombia20261,038,700
Mauritania20261,030,700
Egypt2026995,450
Nigeria2026910,768
Tanzania2026885,800
Venezuela2026882,050
Namibia2026823,290
Mozambique2026786,380
Pakistan2026770,875
Turkey2026769,632
Chile2026743,812
Zambia2026743,398
Morocco2026716,550
Myanmar2026653,508
Afghanistan2026652,230
South Sudan2026644,329
France2026640,427
Somalia2026627,337
Central African Republic2026622,984
Madagascar2026581,540
Ukraine2026579,330
Kenya2026569,140
Botswana2026566,730
Yemen2026527,968
Thailand2026510,890
Spain2026498,980
Cameroon2026472,710
Turkmenistan2026469,930
Papua New Guinea2026452,860
Iraq2026437,367
Uzbekistan2026425,400
Sweden2026410,335
Paraguay2026397,302
Zimbabwe2026386,847
Japan2026364,485
Germany2026348,672
Congo2026341,500
Malaysia2026328,657
Coté d'voire2026318,003
Vietnam2026310,070
Oman2026309,500
Norway2026304,282
Poland2026304,255
Finland2026303,815
Philippines2026298,170
Italy2026294,140
Burkina Faso2026273,800
New Zealand2026264,537
Gabon2026257,667
Ecuador2026248,360
Guinea2026245,717
United Kingdom2026241,930
Laos2026230,800
Romania2026229,891
Ghana2026227,533
Belarus2026202,900
Uganda2026197,100
Guyana2026196,849
Senegal2026192,530
Kyrgyzstan2026191,801
Syria2026185,887
Cambodia2026176,515
Uruguay2026175,015
Suriname2026156,000
Tunisia2026155,360
Nepal2026143,351
Tajikistan2026141,510
Greece2026130,647
Bangladesh2026130,170
North Korea2026120,408
Nicaragua2026119,990
Honduras2026111,890
Benin2026110,622
Cuba2026109,820
Bulgaria2026108,489
Guatemala2026107,159
Eritrea2026101,000
Iceland2026100,250
South Korea202696,920
Liberia202696,320
Malawi202694,080
Portugal202691,470
Hungary202689,608
Jordan202688,802
Azerbaijan202682,629
Austria202682,445
Serbia202677,474
Czechia202677,247
Panama202674,340
Sierra Leone202671,620
United Arab Emirates202671,024
Georgia202669,700
Ireland202668,883
Sri Lanka202664,630
Lithuania202662,680
Latvia202662,249
Croatia202655,974
Togo202654,385
Bosnia and Herzegovina202651,187
Costa Rica202651,060
Dominican Republic202648,320
Slovakia202648,105
Denmark202642,434
Estonia202642,388
Switzerland202639,997
Bhutan202638,394
Netherlands202633,893
Moldova202632,891
Lesotho202630,355
Belgium202630,278
Armenia202628,203
Guinea-Bissau202628,120
Equatorial Guinea202628,051
Solomon Islands202627,986
Haiti202627,560
Albania202627,398
Burundi202625,680
North Macedonia202625,433
Rwanda202624,668
Djibouti202623,180
Belize202622,806
Israel202621,497
El Salvador202620,721
Slovenia202620,151
Fiji202618,274
Kuwait202617,818
Eswatini202617,204
Timor-Leste202614,874
Montenegro202613,452
Vanuatu202612,189
Qatar202611,586
Jamaica202610,831
Lebanon202610,230
The Gambia202610,120
The Bahamas202610,010
Cyprus20269,241
Brunei20265,265
Trinidad and Tobago20265,128
Cape Verde20264,033
Samoa20262,821
Luxembourg20262,586
Mauritius20262,030
Comoros20261,861
Sao Tome and Principe2026964
Kiribati2026811
Bahrain2026760
Dominica2026751
Tonga2026717
Singapore2026709
Micronesia2026702
Saint Lucia2026606
Andorra2026468
Palau2026459
Seychelles2026455
Antigua and Barbuda2026443
Barbados2026430
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines2026389
Grenada2026344
Malta2026316
Maldives2026298
Saint Kitts and Nevis2026261
Marshall Islands2026181
Liechtenstein2026160
San Marino202661
Tuvalu202626
Nauru202621
Monaco20262
Get the data

Last Updated: November 12, 2026

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About Source(s)

Source: The World Bank Group has a bold vision: to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. In more than 100 countries, the World Bank Group provides financing, advice, and innovative solutions that improve lives by creating jobs, strengthening economic growth, and confronting the most urgent global challenges.

Notes: Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes.

FWD EDITORS

We’re a team of data enthusiasts and storytellers. Our goal is to share stories we find interesting in hopes of inspiring others to incorporate data and data visualizations in the stories they create.

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