What are the top 5 biggest countries in the world

The Earth's surface is divided into many countries, and some of them are real giants like Russia, Canada, USA, China, Brazil, and Australia. They occupy huge areas and stretch across the continents.

The 10 largest ones are more or less known to everybody. But more interesting and helpful would be to explore the list of top 100 represented in the table below.

Here you can find the accurate data on the total area of each country (the sum of land and water surfaces) in square kilometers and square miles. Moreover, you can see the neighboring countries having land borders with them.

Note that the list below includes only officially recognized independent states. It does not include dependent territories like Greenland (it is a part of Denmark) and also unrecognized or partially recognized states like Western Sahara (it is rather large but actually does not control 2/3 of its territory disputed by Morocco).

Russia comprises 11% of all land on Earth, and Algeria, the 10th largest country, can fit inside Russia seven times over. Following Russia, the next five largest countries in the world by area are Canada, the United States, China, Brazil, and Australia.

The Largest Countries By Total Area

Rank Country (Including Territories) Total in km2 (mi2) 1 Russia 17,098,242 (6,601,668) 2 Canada 9,984,670 (3,855,102) 3 United States 9,826,675 (3,794,100) 4 China 9,596,960 (3,705,407) – United States (No Territories) 9,525,067 (3,677,649 5 Brazil 8,515,770 (3,287,957) 6 Australia 7,741,220 (2,988,901) 7 India 3,287,263 (1,269,219) 8 Argentina 2,780,400 (1,073,518) 9 Kazakhstan 2,724,900 (1,052,089) 10 Algeria 2,381,741 (919,595) 11 DR Congo 2,344,858 (905,355) 12 Danish Realm Kingdom of Denmark (includes Greenland) 2,220,093 (857,183) – Greenland (Denmark) 2,166,086 (836,330) 13 Saudi Arabia 2,149,690 (830,000) 14 Mexico 1,964,375 (758,449) 15 Indonesia 1,904,569 (735,358) 16 Sudan 1,861,484 (718,723) 17 Libya 1,759,540 (679,360) 18 Iran 1,648,195 (636,372) 19 Mongolia 1,564,110 (603,910) 20 Peru 1,285,216 (496,225) 21 Chad 1,284,000 (496,000) 22 Niger 1,267,000 (489,000) 23 Angola 1,246,700 (481,400) 24 Mali 1,240,192 (478,841) 25 South Africa 1,221,037 (471,445) 26 Colombia 1,141,748 (440,831) 27 Ethiopia 1,104,300 (426,400) 28 Bolivia 1,098,581 (424,164) 29 Mauritania 1,030,700 (398,000) 30 Egypt 1,002,450 (387,050) 31 Tanzania 945,087 (364,900) 32 Nigeria 923,768 (356,669) 33 Venezuela 916,445 (353,841) 34 Pakistan 881,913 (340,509) 35 Namibia 825,615 (318,772) 36 Mozambique 801,590 (309,500) 37 Turkey 783,562 (302,535) 38 Chile 756,102 (291,933) 39 Zambia 752,612 (290,585) 40 Myanmar 676,578 (261,228) 41 Afghanistan 652,867 (252,073) 42 South Sudan 644,329 (248,777) 43 France 640,679 (247,368) 44 Somalia 637,657 (246,201) 45 Central African Republic 622,984 (240,535) 46 Ukraine 603,550 (233,030) 47 Madagascar 587,041 (226,658) 48 Botswana 581,730 (224,610) 49 Kenya 580,367 (224,081) 50 Yemen 555,000 (214,000) – France (No Territories) 543,940 (210,020) – Denmark (No Territories) 43,094 (16,639)

The question of the largest country in the world is in itself a bit problematic. Whether you take the most inhabitants or the largest surface area, both comparisons do not include small states such as Hong Kong or Singapore, although they play an immense role, even for the Western world.

With 1.426 billion inhabitants, India is the most populated country in the world.

The USA is in third place in terms of population and fourth in size. Australia is in 56th place in terms of population, but with an area of 7,741,220 km² it is in sixth place worldwide.

The list of the smallest countries is headed by the Vatican.

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30 most populated countries

The largest countries by area

It is noticeable that the first places of both rankings are quite different. Only Russia, USA, China, Brazil and India are in the top 10 of both tables. It is noteworthy that all these countries have large uninhabited desert or mountain regions. The settlement is therefore concentrated primarily in large urban areas with enormous population density.

India and China are by far the most populous countries and the only ones with more than one billion inhabitants. Together they account for about 36 percent of the total population and occupy nine percent of the habitable earth's surface. In April 2023, India replaced China as the country with the highest population to date and is now just ahead. China's population is now expected to continue to shrink slightly, while India's population will continue to grow.

Russia, on the other hand, is by far the largest country on earth in terms of surface area and extends over a length of more than 9,000 km. At 17,098,250 km², it occupies only slightly more space (11%) than China and India combined. The share of the world population, on the other hand, is only two percent. Large parts of Russia consist of deserts and permafrost areas. Only 23 percent of the area lies west of the Urals (the border between Europe and Asia), but 85 percent of the inhabitants live here. Only 27 percent of the population lives outside cities.

Bangladesh is the only country on the list with a population of 171 million on a relatively small area of only 147,630 km². For comparison: Iowa is about the same size, but has just 3.1 million people. Illinois is slightly bigger than Bangladesh, and has a population of about 12.8 million. With 1,160 inhabitants per km² (3,003 per mi²), Bangladesh is the only territorial state in the world to occupy a top position in population density.

* Greenland is not an independent and sovereign country, but territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. Further information on the definition of a country can be found in our article What is a country?

What are the top 5 biggest country?

List of countries (and dependencies) ranked by area.

What are the 7 big countries?

Largest Countries in the World (by Area)....

Russia. 17,098,242..

Canada. 9,984,670..

United States. 9,826,675..

China. 9,596,961..

Brazil. 8,514,877..

Australia. 7,741,220..

India. 3,287,263..

Argentina. 2,780,400..

Is China larger than the US?

The U.S. and China have been head-to-head for the position of the third largest country in the world. Considering the total surface area of both countries including land and water, the United States takes up 9.8 million square kilometers while China has 9.6 million square kilometers, according to World Atlas.

What is the 2nd largest country in the world?

Canada is the second largest country in the world. The area covered is 9,984,670 square kilometres. The capital city of Canada is Ottawa.