Countries by Area (2026)

The three largest countries are Russia (17,125,190), Canada (15,634,410), United States (9,831,510); the three smallest are Gibraltar (10), Nauru (20), Tuvalu (30).

The gap between the top and the bottom of the table is a factor of about 1,712,519. The median country sits at 103,000 and the simple average across all 215 countries is 653,671 — the average is pulled up by a few very large values.

Over roughly the last decade the biggest increases were in Faroe Islands (+828.4%), Dominican Republic (+201.7%), France (+10.4%), while the largest decreases were in Serbia (-3.8%), Qatar (-1%), Slovenia (-0.9%).

By continent, the leaders are China in Asia (9,562,910), Russia in Europe (17,125,190), Algeria in Africa (2,381,740), Canada in North America (15,634,410), Brazil in South America (8,510,420), Australia in Oceania (7,741,220).

Surface area is a country's total area including areas under inland bodies of water and some coastal waterways, as compiled by the World Bank from the FAO. It differs slightly from "land area", which excludes inland water.

Source: World Bank Open Data (indicator AG.SRF.TOTL.K2). Countries without a published value are not ranked. Each country's own page shows the full historical series and its rank on this and every other indicator.