The 30 Largest Countries in the World

 

When it comes to world geography, there is always something that we don’t know. Whether it’s the size of a state or its geographical position, it doesn’t matter, a ranking is always useful. If there aren’t rankings and reviews, would you know which state has the most inhabitants between Canada and the United States of America? Or how large is Russia? To remove any doubt you may have, we’ve done the research and compiled a list of the 30 largest countries in the world.

Country	Continent	Surface	Population
Mauritania	Africa	1,030,700 sq. km	3,205,060
Bolivia	South America	1,098,580 sq. km	9,947,418
Ethiopia	Africa	1,127,127 sq. km	88,013,491
Colombia	South America	1,138,910 sq. km	47,790,000
South Africa	Africa	1,219,912 sq. km	49,000,000
Mali	Africa	1,240,000 sq. km	13,796,354
Angola	Africa	1,246,700 sq. km	13,068,161
Niger	Africa	1,267,000 sq. km	15,878,271
Chad	Africa	1,284,000 sq. km	10,543,464
Peru	South America	1,285,220 sq. km	29,907,003
Mongolia	Asia	1,565,000 sq. km	3,086,918
Iran	Asia	1,648,000 sq. km	76,923,300
Libya	Africa	1,759,540 sq. km	6,461,454
Sudan	Africa	1,861,484 sq. km	35,000,000
Indonesia	Asia	1,919,440 sq. km	242.968.342
Saudi Arabia	Asia	1,960,582 sq. km	25,731,776
Mexico	North America	1,972,550 sq. km	112,468,855
Greenland	Europe	2,166,086 sq. km	56,375
Democratic Republic of Congo	Africa	2,345,410 sq. km	70,916,439
Algeria	Africa	2,381,740 sq. km	34,586,184
Kazakhstan	Asia	2,717,300 sq. km	15,340,000
Argentina	South America	2,766,890 sq. km	41,343,201
India	Asia	3,287,590 sq. km	1,173,108,018
Australia	Oceania	7,686,850 sq. km	21,515,754
Brazil	South America	8,511,965 sq. km	201,103,330
China	Asia	9,596,960 sq. km	1,330,044,000
United States of America	North America	9,629,091 sq. km	310,232,863
Canada	North America	9,984,670 sq. km	33,679,000
Antarctica	Antarctica	14,000,000 sq. km	0
Russia	Eurasia	17,100,000 sq. km	140,702,000

5. China, Asia

The People’s Republic of China, more commonly known as China, is the most populous country in the world.
Located in the eastern part of Asia, this country is made up of 22 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities, and 2 special administrative regions, all wholly or partially controlled by the government based in Beijing.

China is home to some of the most beautiful natural landscapes in the world, such as the Gobi Desert, the Himalayas, the Yangtze River, and many more.

Inhabited since the Bronze Age, it was dominated by dynasties until 1911, when a slow and profound crisis led China towards a complete reform of the government system. Today, China is a country full of contradictions: on one hand, it’s still highly traditional while on the other is ready to become one of the new economic powers in the world.

Capital: Beijing (Peking)
Surface: 8,511,965 sq km
% of water in the territory: 2.8%
Population: 1,330,044,000 inhabitants
Population density: 143.7 inhab./sq km
Population growth rate: 0.481%

4. United States of America, America

The United States of America is undoubtedly one of the largest and most populated states in the world. The countries that make up the USA occupy the northern belt of America, in a territory between Canada and Mexico, as well as Alaska, north of Canada, and the Hawaiian Islands.

While the coastal areas, such as California or Florida, are heavily inhabited, the inland areas have a smaller population and it’s often possible to come across deserts, such as Sonoran or Death Valley.

Bathed by two different oceans (the Pacific to the west and the Atlantic to the east), the state is located completely in the Northern hemisphere and has a continental climate, characterized by high humidity peaks, especially in the southern areas.

Capital: Washington
Surface: 9,372,614 sq km
% of water in the territory: 6.76%
Population: 323,127,513
Population density: 34 inhab./sq km
Population growth rate: 0.81%

3. Canada, America

Canada is located in the north of the United States of America and borders the two oceans, the Arctic Ocean, and Alaska. Made up of 10 provinces and 3 different territories, it has the largest border in the world: the one that divides Canada
from the United States of America, with a length of 8,893 km.

From a governmental point of view, Canada is a federal parliamentary monarchy, headed by Queen Elizabeth of England, head of the Commonwealth. Its population has two official languages, English and French, which are mainly spoken by the inhabitants of the east coast.

The surface of Canada is particularly rich in vegetation due to the strong presence of water sources. There you can find the Great Bear Lake and the Great Slave Lake, in the north-western area. In the province of Alberta, there is Lake Athabasca, while in the province of Manitoba, there are Lake Winnipeg and Manitoba.

Capital: Ottawa
Area: 9.984.670
% of water in the territory: 8.92%
Population: 33,679,000
Population density: 3.92 inhabitants / sq km
Population growth rate: 0.73%

2. Antarctica

Located in the southern hemisphere, Antarctica is one of the two terrestrial poles, as opposed to the Arctic. This country is 98% covered by ice with an average thickness of 1,600 meters which makes it the coldest and most inhospitable continent on Earth.

Discovered in 1820 after a Russian expedition led by Lazarev and Bellingshausen, its existence was officially recognized with the name “Antarctica” in 1890, thanks to the Scottish cartographer John George Bartholomew.

Capital: /
Area: 14,000,000
% of water in the territory: /
Population: /
Population density: 0.00007 inhab./sq km
Population growth rate: /

1. Russia, Europe

Russia is the largest state in the world with a surface covering about 1/8 of the Earth’s soil. Located between Eastern Europe and North Asia, Russia is so large that it includes 11 different time zones, while its capital, Moscow, is one of the largest cities in the world.

In Russia, there is a considerable variety of landscapes. Most of the territory is characterized by the steppe in the southern zone and a strong presence of wooded areas with tundra in the northern one. In addition to several mountain ranges, such as the Caucasus and the Altai, the Russian Federation also possesses a significant amount of plains, which allow it to have 10% of the world’s arable land.

This state also has thousands of rivers and some of the most famous lakes in the world, such as Lake Baikal, the deepest in the world, as well as Ladoga and Onega.

Capital: Moscow
Area: 17.100.000 sq. Km
% of water in the territory: 13%
Population: 140,702,000
Population density: 8.4 inhab./sq km
Population growth rate: -0.06%