Largest Country In the World Information

This is a list of the world's sovereign states and their dependent territories by area, ranked by total area.

Entries in this list are based on those in the ISO standard ISO 3166-1. Territories that are not integral, such as dependent territories, are listed separately (in italics) or noted as included. Not included in the list are claims to parts of the continent of Antarctica^{[Note 1]} – and entities such as the European Union^{[Note 2]} (4,324,782 km²/1,669,808 sq mi total area) that have some degree of sovereignty but do not consider themselves to be sovereign countries or dependent territories. States with limited recognition that are not listed in the ISO standard ISO 3166-1 are not included, but are noted within the countries they are recognised as part of with areas given.

This list includes three measurements of area:

• Total area: is the sum of all land and inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers) delimited by international boundaries or coastlines.
• Land area: is the aggregate of all surfaces delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines, excluding inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers).
• Water area: is the sum of the surfaces of all inland water bodies, such as lakes, reservoirs, or rivers, as delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines.^[2] Some entries may also include coastal waters. Territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zones are not included.

Data are taken from the United Nations Statistics Division unless otherwise noted.^[3]

Countries and dependencies by area

See also

• List of countries by total area (graphical)
• List of countries by forest area
• List of island countries by area
• List of islands by area
• List of major geographic bodies by area
• List of political and geographic subdivisions by total area
• Orders of magnitude (area)
• List of countries by population

Notes

1. ^ The following countries have territorial claims in Antarctica: Argentina (969,000 km²/374,000 sq mi), Australia (5,896,500 km²/2,276,700 sq mi), Chile (1,250,000 km²/480,000 sq mi), France (432,000 km²/167,000 sq mi), New Zealand (450,000 km²/170,000 sq mi), Norway (2,500,000 km²/970,000 sq mi) and United Kingdom (1,395,000 km²/539,000 sq mi), which to some extent overlap. The area from 90°W to 150°W (2,100,000 km²/810,000 sq mi) is currently unclaimed territory. These areas usually have no human inhabitants, excluding scientists.
2. ^ The European Union is a sui generis supranational union. It covers a total area of 4,324,782 km² (1,669,808 sq mi),^[1] and would be ranked 7th if it were included (3.0% of world's total land area).
3. ^ The area given is the United Nations official figure for Mainland China, and excludes the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau and the province of Taiwan, each shown separately.^[4] It also excludes the Trans-Karakoram Tract 5,800 km² (2,200 sq mi), Aksai Chin 37,244 km² (14,380 sq mi) and other territories in dispute with India. The total area of China is listed as 9,572,900 km² (3,696,100 sq mi) by Encyclopædia Britannica.^[5] See Territorial changes of the People's Republic of China for further information.
4. ^ The figure given is from Encyclopædia Britannica and includes all states and incorporated territories, as well as 204,083 km² (78,797 sq mi) of inland waters and the U.S. portion of the Great Lakes 156,049 km² (60,251 sq mi). It excludes coastal waters 109,362 km² (42,225 sq mi) and territorial waters 195,213 km² (75,372 sq mi).^[6] The figure given by the UN (9,629,091 km² or 3,717,813 sq mi) includes coastal waters, while the figure currently^[update] given by the CIA World Factbook (9,826,675 km² or 3,794,100 sq mi) additionally includes territorial waters.^[1][7]
5. ^ Figures exclude the external territories of Norfolk Island, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands Territory, and Heard Island and McDonald Islands,^[8] each shown separately. Excludes the claim of the Australian Antarctic Territory (5,896,500 km² or 2,276,700 sq mi). The UN's previous data,^[9] as well as the current data shown by the World Bank and the CIA,^[1][10] give the figure as 7,741,220 km² (2,988,900 sq mi).
6. ^ The area given is from Encyclopædia Britannica and exlcudes disputed territories not under Indian control. The total area claimed by India, according to the figure given by the United Nations and the Indian government, totals 3,287,263 km² (1,269,219 sq mi).^[11]
7. ^ Excludes claims on Argentine Antarctica (969,000 km² or 374,000 sq mi), on Falkland Islands (12,173 km² or 4,700 sq mi) and on South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (3,903 km² or 1,507 sq mi).
8. ^ A total of 1,755,636 km² (677,855 sq mi) of land area is covered by ice; the ice-free area amounts to 410,450 km² (158,480 sq mi).^[10]
9. ^ ^{a b} The water area percentage of Sudan prior to the secession of South Sudan was 5.18.
10. ^ Prior to the independence of South Sudan, Sudan's total area as reported by the UN source was 2,505,813 km² (967,500 sq mi). Updated figure shown is from the CIA.^[1]
11. ^ The area given is from the 2007 data and the CIA World Factbook.^[1][9] The UN Demographic Yearbook lists a figure of 1,628,750 km² (628,860 sq mi), which refers to land area only.
12. ^ Excluding the Ilemi Triangle (14,000 km²/5,400 sq mi).
13. ^ Excluding the Hala'ib Triangle (20,580 km²/7,950 sq mi).
14. ^ Excludes data for Pakistani-held territories of Kashmir, Azad Kashmir (13,297 km² or 5,134 sq mi) and Gilgit–Baltistan (72,520 km² or 28,000 sq mi).^[13] Including these territories would produce an area figure of 881,912 km² (340,508 sq mi).
15. ^ Excludes claims in Antarctica.
16. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Figures shown in this entry are taken from the CIA.^[1]
17. ^ The figure shown includes the area of Somaliland (137,600 km² or 53,100 sq mi), which is de facto independent from Somalia.
18. ^ Figure refers to the European area only; exludes the overseas departments of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte and French Guiana, each shown separately. Using the figures displayed in this table, the areas of these overseas departments total 89,179 km² (34,432 sq mi), which added to the European area brings the total area for the French Republic to 640,679 km² (247,368 sq mi); (the CIA reports the total as 643,801 km² or 248,573 sq mi).^[1] All figures exclude overseas territories and collectivities, shown separately. Another source, the French National Institute for Statistice and Economic Studies, gives an area figure of (632,759 km²/244,310 sq mi) as the area of Metropolitan France and overseas departments.^[15] The CIA gives a water area of Metropolitan France as 1,530 km² (590 sq mi).
19. ^ Includes Spanish possessions in northern Africa (Ceuta, Melilla and the plazas de soberanía).^[9]
20. ^ Does not include Western Sahara, shown separately.
21. ^ Figure shown is from the 2007 data and the CIA World Factbook.^[1][9] The UN figure of 435,244 km² (168,049 sq mi) excludes the three autonomous provinces of Iraqi Kurdistan.
22. ^ Includes the Åland Islands (1,552 km²/599 sq mi).
23. ^ Figures shown are from the CIA World Factbook; the UN data refers to mainland area only. All figures exclude Svalbard, Jan Mayen and Bouvet Island, shown separately, and the Antarctic territorial claims of Queen Maud Land and Peter I Island (243 km² or 94 sq mi).
24. ^ The figure given by the Philippine government is 299,764 km² (115,740 sq mi).^[16]
25. ^ The government gives the total figure as 266,838 square kilometres (103,027 sq mi).^[17] CIA World Factbook has total/land area of 267,710 km² (103,360 sq mi). All figures exclude Niue, the Cook Islands and Tokelau, shown separately, as well as the Antarctic claim of Ross Dependency.
26. ^ Administration is split between Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, both of which claim the entire territory.
27. ^ May or may not include the Galápagos Islands (7,880 km² or 3,040 sq mi). The 2007 data,^[9] as well as the current data given by the CIA, explicitly includes the Galápagos and gives the figure as 283,561 km² (109,484 sq mi).^[1]
28. ^ Does not include the three Crown dependencies (768 km²/297 sq mi) and the 14 overseas territories (1,742,857 km²/672,921 sq mi), shown separately.
29. ^ Includes the parts of the Golan Heights (1,295 km² or 500 sq mi) occupied by Israel.
30. ^ Area according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics is 147,570 km²/56,980 sq mi.^[18]
31. ^ Somaliland is claimed in whole by Somalia, and has limited international recognition
32. ^ Official figure for total area is 100,210 km² (38,690 sq mi).^[19]
33. ^ The figure shown includes the area of Kosovo and Metohija, which is de facto independent from Serbia as the Republic of Kosovo (10,887 km² or 4,203 sq mi). The area of Serbia without Kosovo is 77,474 km² (29,913 sq mi).^[1]
34. ^ The figure shown includes the area of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (11,458 square kilometres or 4,424 square miles), which is de facto independent from Azerbaijan.
35. ^ The figure shown includes the areas of Abkhazia (8,660 km² or 3,340 sq mi)^[20] and South Ossetia (3,900 km² or 1,500 sq mi),^[21] both de facto independent from Georgia.
36. ^ The UN gives a combined area for Svalbard and Jan Mayen as 62,422 km² (24,101 sq mi). The separate figures shown are from the CIA World Factbook.^[1]
37. ^ The UN figure includes only the constituent country Denmark; the entire Kingdom of Denmark, including Greenland and Faroe Islands covers 2,220,093 km² (857,183 sq mi) and would be 12th.
38. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Data for the Netherlands is from the Central Bureau of Statistics. The main figure refers to the European area only.^[22] The overseas municipalities of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius are shown separately, with data from the same source.^[23] Using the figures shown in this table, the total area with overseas municipalities included is 41,850 km² (16,160 sq mi). Adding the constituent countries of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, the total area of the Kingdom of the Netherlands covers 42,508 km² (16,412 sq mi).
39. ^ The figure from the UN demographic yearbook (41,277 km² or 15,937 sq mi) excludes the areas of state forests and communanzas, which amount to 7.15 km² (2.76 sq mi). The figure here is from the 2007 data.^[9]
40. ^ The UN source does not include data for the Republic of China (Taiwan). The figure shown is from the 2009 Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of China. The CIA gives a total area of 35,980 km² (13,890 sq mi). The total constitutional land area of the Republic of China is 11,420,000 km² (4,410,000 sq mi), which includes modern-day Taiwan, Mongolia, and Mainland China.^[24]
41. ^ The figure shown includes the area of Transnistria (4,163 km² or 1,607 sq mi), which is de facto independent from Moldova.
42. ^ Figure shown is from the CIA.^[1] The UN figure of 22,072 km² (8,522 sq mi) includes the Golan Heights (1,200 km²/460 sq mi) and East Jerusalem (70 km²/27 sq mi), which are not internationally recognised as part of Israel.
43. ^ Nagorno-Karabakh is claimed in whole by Azerbaijan, and has limited international recognition
44. ^ Kosovo is claimed in whole by Serbia, and has limited international recognition
45. ^ Includes the largely unrecognized but de facto independent Northern Cyprus (3,355 km²/1,295 sq mi), the UN buffer zone (346 km²/134 sq mi) and Akrotiri and Dhekelia (254 km²/98 sq mi).^[1]
46. ^ Abkhazia is claimed in whole by Georgia, and has limited international recognition
47. ^ The UN source has no data for the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. The figure given here is the total of all areas listed separately in the CIA World Factbook.^[25]
48. ^ The CIA gives the areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip separately as 5,860 km² (2,260 sq mi) and 360 km² (140 sq mi) respectively. The figure for the West Bank includes East Jerusalem and Jersalem No Man's Land, but excludes Mount Scopus.^[1]
49. ^ Transnistria is claimed in whole by Moldova, and has limited international recognition
50. ^ South Ossetia is claimed in whole by Georgia, and has limited international recognition
51. ^ Northern Cyprus is claimed in whole by Cyprus, and has limited international recognition
52. ^ Figure shown is from the 2007 data and the CIA World Factbook.^[1][9] The UN figure of 1,969 km² (760 sq mi) excludes the Agalega Islands and Cargados Carajos.
53. ^ Figure shown is from the CIA World Factbook.^[1] UN figure of 2,235 km (0.863 sq mi) includes Mayotte 374 km² (144 sq mi), an overseas department of France.
54. ^ Figure shown is from Encyclopædia Britannica.^[26] The UN figure of 1,705 km² (658 sq mi) includes the dependencies of Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin, which broke off in 2007, and are shown separately in this table.
55. ^ There are some lakes and streams of unknown area.
56. ^ The figure shown is from the CIA World Factbook,^[1] and refers to land area only. The UN figure excludes 84 km² (32 sq mi) of uninhabited islands.
57. ^ The figure shown is from the CIA Factbook.^[1] The UN value of 539 km² (208 sq mi) refers to habitable area only and excludes the country's central forest reserve.
58. ^ Figure is from the CIA and World Bank.^[1][10]
59. ^ The total area of Saint Helena is 122 square kilometres (47 sq mi), Ascension is 88 square kilometres (34 sq mi), and Tristan da Cunha is 98 square kilometres (38 sq mi).
60. ^ ^{a b} Data is from the 2007 statistics.^[9]
61. ^ The UN gives no information for the British Indian Ocean Territory. The figure given here was taken from the CIA Factbook, and refers to land area only.^[1]
62. ^ The figure shown is from the CIA Factbook, and includes Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno Islands.^[1] The UN figure is 5 km²/1.9 sq mi, and only includes area for Pitcairn island itself, the only inhabited island in the group.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u} Field Listing - Area, The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency. Data last updated on July 5, 2011.
2. ^ Central Intelligence Agency. "Definitions and notes: Location". The World Factbook. Government of the United States. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/docs/notesanddefs.html#2144. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
3. ^ Source, unless otherwise specified: (pdf) Demographic Yearbook—Table 3: Population by sex, rate of population increase, surface area and density. United Nations Statistics Division. 2008. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2008/Table03.pdf. Retrieved 24 September 2011. Entries in this table giving figures other than the figures given in this source are explained in the associated Note.
4. ^ See: Note 39 of "Demographic Yearbook—Table 3: Population by sex, rate of population increase, surface area and density". UN Stat.. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2007/Table03.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
5. ^ "China". Encyclopaedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/111803/China. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
6. ^ "United States". Encyclopaedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/616563/United-States. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
7. ^ "Countries of the World: 21 Years of World Facts". geographic.org. http://www.theodora.com/wfb/abc_world_fact_book.html. Retrieved 2008-08-17. The CIA has updated the total area of United States a number of times since initial publication of the World Factbook. From 1989 through 1996, the total area of US was listed as 9,372,610 km² (3,618,780 sq mi) (land area plus inland water only). The listed total area changed to 9,629,091 km² (3,717,813 sq mi) in 1997 (With the Great Lakes areas and the coastal waters added), to 9,631,418 km² (3,718,711 sq mi) in 2004, to 9,631,420 km² (3,718,710 sq mi) in 2006, and to 9,826,630 km² (3,794,080 sq mi) in 2007 (territorial waters added). Note: From 1989 to 1996, China was listed as the world's third-largest country by total area according to the CIA World Factbook. The United States replaced China in 1997 after additional water spaces were added.
8. ^ Geoscience Australia. "Area of Australia - States and Territories". Government of Australia. http://www.ga.gov.au/education/geoscience-basics/dimensions/area-of-australia-states-and-territories.html. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
9. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "Total surface area as of 19 January 2007". United Nations Statistics Division. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/environment/totalarea.htm. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
10. ^ ^{a b c} http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?q=poorest&d=WDI&f=Indicator_Code%3AAG.SRF.TOTL.K2
11. ^ "Area and Population". Government of India. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071226033122/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_And_You/area_and_population.aspx.
12. ^ Agency of Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan (ASRK). 2005. Main Demographic Indicators. Available at http://www.stat.kz
13. ^ Geohive - Pakistan statistics
14. ^ "Basic Facts". http://www.ukrconsul.org/BASIC_FACTS.htm.
15. ^ Subdivisions, surface area and population of the French Republic, National Institute for Statistice and Economic Studies, accessed 11 March 2011.
16. ^ General Profile of the Philippines : Geography, Philippine Information Agency.
17. ^ The New Zealand Land Cover Database, New Zealand Ministry for the Environment. Updated 1 July 2009.
18. ^ "Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics". Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. http://www.bbs.gov.bd/Home.aspx. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
19. ^ "우리나라 국토, 여의도 면적 24배 늘어". Moneytoday, citing Ministry of Land Transport and Maritime Affairs. August 31, 2010. http://stock.mt.co.kr/view/mtview.php?no=2010083110084267827&type=1&outlink=2&EVEC. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
20. ^ Abkhazia at Encyclopædia Britannica
21. ^ South Ossetia at World English Dictionary
22. ^ Central Bureau of Statistics (2009) (in Dutch), Land- en tuinbouwcijfers, 2009, Government of the Netherlands, Department of Publication and Information, p. 14, ISSN 1386-9566, http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/C1A56EC5-9A02-4639-8BDB-6787381ADA7A/0/2009j29pub.pdf, retrieved 26 November 2011
23. ^ Central Bureau of Statistics (2009), Statistical Yearbook of the Netherlands Antilles, 2009, Willemstad: Government of the Netherlands, Department of Publication and Information, p. 4
24. ^ "Area, cultivated land area and forest land area" (pdf). National Statistics - Republic of China (Taiwan). http://eng.stat.gov.tw/public/data/dgbas03/bs2/yearbook_eng/y001.pdf. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
25. ^ French Southern and Antarctic Lands, CIA Factbook, as of December 29, 2010.
26. ^ [1]

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