Largest and Smallest Countries in the World

The size of the Earth is unfathomable. The entire surface area is 510 million square kilometers. Seas and oceans cover 71% of the Earth’s surface area, while continents and islands cover the remaining 29% (148.9 million km2).

I’m going to tell you about the world’s top six largest and smallest countries today. Countries are ranked according to their overall surface area of land area. A country’s total surface area includes its land area and its territorial waterways.

The Top Largest Countries:

1. Russia – (6,601,665 Square Miles)

Russia is the world’s largest country by land area. The country’s overall surface area is 17,098,250 km2, accounting for 6% of the world’s total surface area and more than 12.5 percent of populated land.

Russia also possesses the world’s most incredible water surface area, accounting for 4.22 percent of the country’s total area.

Russia is larger than Australia and Antarctica combined and nearly as big as the entire continent of South America. It spans two continents and has borders with 13 European and Asian countries.

Russia’s overall population is 164.2 million, with a population density of 9 persons per km2. However, the bulk of the country’s population (75 percent) lives in metropolitan regions in the west, while numerous locations in the east are uninhabitable owing to terrible weather and impassable terrain.

Despite accounting for about 75% of Russia’s total surface area, just 20% of Russians live there. Traveling by plane from Moscow to Anadyr, one of the country’s far east port cities, takes 8 hours and 20 minutes.  Almost the same time as a transatlantic journey from London to New York.

Armed conquest and political unionization have propelled Russia’s geographical expansion for the most part. But, as seen by its recent invasion of Ukraine, a former Soviet Union state, Russia is still engaged in territorial and ideological expansion.

2. Canada (3,855,101 Square Miles)

In the Americas, Canada is the largest country. Canada occupies over half of North America’s landmass, with territorial islands that stretch out into the Atlantic Ocean and border Greenland on the north.

Water covers around 9% of Canada’s total land. The United States is somewhat smaller than Canada. The diversity of Canada is astounding. Canada’s land is great for water. Its coastline stretches for 243,042 kilometers, making it the world’s longest.

A large portion of Canada’s landmass is still natural or protected. At the same time, Canada’s official population density is only four people per square kilometer. The northern part is covered in glaciers. 

 Massive mountain ranges dominate the west, and the east is densely forested, so most of the country’s 38,363,577 people live in the southern part of the country, which borders the United States.

3. China (3,747,877 Square Miles)

China is Asia’s most populated country. China’s vast landmass covers 9,957,750 square kilometers or 29 times the area of England. Water covers only 2.8 percent of China’s land surface.

China has the world’s most populous people. As a result, the county has become highly congested.

Although China’s population density of 153 people per km2 is comparable to that of several European countries, 94 percent of the country’s 1.4 billion inhabitants occupy just 43% of the total land area, bringing the actual population density to over 280 people per km2.

4. United States (3,618,783 Square Miles)

The United States is somewhat larger than Brazil and China and more than double the size of the European Union.

The US is unique because it has 50 states, two of which are not on the continent. With 17.53 percent of the country’s surface area, Alaska is the largest state in the United States. 

The United States is the first country on the list with a significant amount of water – water covers around 6.76 percent of the entire surface area. A total of 102,500 lakes, rivers, lagoons and other bodies of water are included.

5. Brazil (3,287,955 Square Miles)

South America’s most populous country is Brazil. Brazil’s entire surface area is 8,515,770 km2, and it spans four time zones. Although water makes up just 0.66 percent of Brazil’s land area, the country boasts an astounding 7,491 kilometers of coastline.

Brazil’s scenery is highly diverse, as expected from such a large country. However, the Amazon rainforest, which covers over 40% of Brazil’s total territory, is probably the country’s most iconic feature.

Because of the difficult conditions in the rainforest, including extreme heat, humidity, and precipitation, only roughly 28 million people out of Brazil’s total population of 215.3 million live there.

6. Australia (2,969,906 Square Miles)

Australia is big enough to be its continent.

Australia has exclusive access to the seas and oceans that surround it even while Australia’s geography is incredibly diversified, with numerous inhabitable locations ranging from the harsh dry outback deserts that cover a third of the country’s territory to the snowy mountain ranges in the east.

The country’s geography is highly diverse, with several inhabitable areas. However, because most people naturally concentrate near Australia’s coastline, virtually no one lives in the country’s interior.

The Top Smallest Countries:

The world’s five smallest countries have roughly 110.44 km2, nearly 36 times less than the smallest state in the US.

1. Vatican city (0.27 Square Miles)

The Vatican City State claims to be the world’s tiniest country. It is powerful, though, since it is possibly the most significant in terms of religion: it is the spiritual core of the Roman Catholic church and the residence of the Pope. The Holy See, often known as Vatican City, is a walled section of Rome, Italy’s capital.

Following the Lateran Treaty with Italy, the little nation became a sovereign state in 1929. It has an ecclesiastical government, with the Pope as the head of state. By choice, the Vatican City is not a UN member.

Roughly 1,000 people live there, and none of them are permanent residents. However, many more people commute into the country for employment.

2. Monaco (0.77 Square Miles)

Monaco is the world’s smallest country. Monaco is also known for its position on the French Riviera, its casino (the Monte Carlo Casino), and other smaller beaches and resort communities—all of which are within a square mile.

It is between the Mediterranean Sea and southern France. Monte Carlo, the country’s capital and a well-known vacation location for some of the world’s wealthiest individuals, is the country’s only official city. Thirty-nine thousand people are living in this nation.

3. Nauru (8.5 Square Miles)

Nauru is a tiny Pacific island republic in the Oceania area. In the early 20th century, the nation was well-known for its phosphate mining operations.

With around 8.5 square miles and a population of over 11,000 people, Nauru is the world’s smallest island republic. Pleasant Island was the name given to Nauru before it gained independence from Australia in 1968. There is no formal capital city in this small country.

4. Tuvalu (10 Square Miles)

Tuvalu is a nine-island nation in Oceania. Six of them feature open-to-the-ocean lagoons, while two have large non-beach land areas and one does not.

Tuvalu has no rivers or streams, and there is no drinking groundwater because the islands are coral atolls. As a result, all Tuvalu’s drinking water is collected and stored using catchment systems.

Tuvalu’s population is 11,342, with Polynesians accounting for 96 percent.

 Funafuti, Tuvalu’s largest city, is the capital of this small country. Tuvaluan and English are the country’s two official languages.

5. San Marino (24 Square Miles)

San Marino is a landlocked country bordered entirely by Italy. It has 34,232 inhabitants and is located atop Mt. Titano in north-central Italy.

With its founding in the fourth century, the nation claims to be Europe’s oldest state. San Marino’s landscape is dominated by rocky mountains, with the highest point being Monte Titano at 2,477 feet. San Marino’s lowest point is Torrente Ausa, 180 feet below sea level.

6. Liechtenstein (60 Square Miles)

Liechtenstein has a population of between 38,000 and 39,000 people. The Alps define this little country ruled by a constitutional monarchy. Government-sponsored tourism is a significant element of the economy, as is international banking, notorious for keeping its clients’ identities private.

Conclusion

The history of the globe demonstrates that large countries and their interactions govern and determine the growth trend of world politics and the building of the international order.

Consequently, small countries’ ties with larger ones are always seen as critical problems. However, nowadays, the nature, situation, and specified context of the small country-big nation relationship have changed.

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