👀 Comparing the Land Area of the 15 Largest Countries in the World

What We’re Showing:

This graphic tracks the land area of the 15 largest countries in the world, as sourced from World Bank data, last updated January, 2025.

It also includes the share of forest and agricultural land per country.

ℹ️ Please see the footnotes for how both metrics are defined.

Land Area is Not Total Area

In case you’re wondering why Canada is fourth after Russia, China, and the U.S. — it’s because land area is a very specific term that doesn’t include area under lakes and rivers.

As a result, Canada—where 9% of the total area is covered by freshwater—loses some ground to its peers.

Why Measure Land Area?

Per the World Bank, land area is important to measure a country’s agricultural ability and to track the environmental effects of human activity.