Independent rankings built from public data — every figure traceable to the body that published it.
Report year 2013Data year 2013
Land area (sq. km)Neither end is better — this is a shape, not a scorePublished by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
64 reference years (1961–2024), covering 185 to 222 countries, from FAOSTAT's Land Use domain (item 6601, element 5110) — read from the FAO's own bulk download, not from the World Bank's copy. ⚠ LAND area, not surface area: FAOSTAT publishes both, and this one excludes inland water, national claims to the continental shelf and exclusive economic zones. It is the figure normally quoted as a country's size. ⚠ Not the World Bank's AG.LND.TOTL.K2: comparing 2022 row for row, 26 of the 215 countries both carry differ. Malta is 315.15 km² at the FAO and a round 320 at the Bank; Serbia and Ethiopia differ by thousands, because the Bank is serving an older FAOSTAT release. ⚠ Converted from the FAO's own unit of 1000 hectares by multiplying by ten, which is exact — a unit change, not a rounding. ⚠ The early editions are smaller because FAOSTAT reports dissolved states for the years they existed: the USSR has a land area until 1991 and its fifteen successors begin in 1992, and those historical entities are dropped rather than mapped onto today's countries. ⚠ Three registry entities have no FAOSTAT row: Kosovo, Northern Cyprus and Somaliland. ⚠ A statistic with no better end — a big country is not a better one, and the FAO ranks nobody on it.
FAOSTAT Land Use: land area, 2013 — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Cite as: FAO. FAOSTAT Land, Inputs and Sustainability: Land Use. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Licence: CC BY 4.0
A country's total area excluding inland water, as published by the FAO in FAOSTAT's Land Use domain (item 6601, element 5110), read from the FAO's own bulk download rather than from a redistributor. ⚠ Not the World Bank's copy of this series: comparing 2022 row for row, 26 of the 215 countries both carry differ, and Malta shows why — the FAO publishes 315.15 km² and the Bank publishes a round 320. Converted from the FAO's own unit of 1000 hectares by multiplying by ten, which is exact and loses no precision. ⚠ Land area, not surface area: FAOSTAT publishes both, and this is the one excluding lakes and rivers, which is the figure normally quoted as a country's size. Neither end is better and the FAO ranks nobody on it.
222 rows × 3 columns · imported from the publisher’s published data file on
Select any column heading to sort by it; select it again to reverse.
| Country | ISO Code | Land area (sq. km) |
|---|---|---|
| Russian Federation | RUS | 16,376,870.0 |
| China, mainland | CHN | 9,388,211.0 |
| United States of America | USA | 9,147,420.0 |
| Canada | CAN | 8,965,590.0 |
| Brazil | BRA | 8,358,140.0 |
| Australia | AUS | 7,682,300.0 |
| India | IND | 2,973,190.0 |
| Argentina | ARG | 2,736,690.0 |
| Kazakhstan | KAZ | 2,699,700.0 |
| Algeria | DZA | 2,381,740.0 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | COD | 2,267,050.0 |
| Saudi Arabia | SAU | 2,149,690.0 |
| Mexico | MEX | 1,943,950.0 |
| Indonesia | IDN | 1,877,519.0 |
| Sudan | SDN | 1,868,000.0 |
| Libya | LBY | 1,759,540.0 |
| Iran (Islamic Republic of) | IRN | 1,628,760.0 |
| Mongolia | MNG | 1,557,253.1 |
| Peru | PER | 1,280,000.0 |
| Niger | NER | 1,266,700.0 |
| Chad | TCD | 1,259,200.0 |
| Angola | AGO | 1,246,700.0 |
| Mali | MLI | 1,220,190.0 |
| South Africa | ZAF | 1,213,090.0 |
| Ethiopia | ETH | 1,122,869.0 |
| Colombia | COL | 1,109,500.0 |
| Bolivia (Plurinational State of) | BOL | 1,083,300.0 |
| Mauritania | MRT | 1,030,700.0 |
| Egypt | EGY | 995,450.0 |
| Nigeria | NGA | 910,770.0 |
| United Republic of Tanzania | TZA | 885,800.0 |
| Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) | VEN | 882,050.0 |
| Namibia | NAM | 823,290.0 |
| Mozambique | MOZ | 786,380.0 |
| Pakistan | PAK | 770,880.0 |
| Türkiye | TUR | 769,630.0 |
| Chile | CHL | 743,532.0 |
| Zambia | ZMB | 743,390.0 |
| Myanmar | MMR | 653,080.0 |
| Afghanistan | AFG | 652,230.0 |
| South Sudan | SSD | 631,930.0 |
| Somalia | SOM | 627,340.0 |
| Central African Republic | CAF | 622,980.0 |
| Madagascar | MDG | 581,800.0 |
| Ukraine | UKR | 579,320.0 |
| Kenya | KEN | 569,140.0 |
| Botswana | BWA | 566,730.0 |
| France | FRA | 538,950.0 |
| Yemen | YEM | 527,970.0 |
| Thailand | THA | 510,890.0 |
| Spain | ESP | 500,210.0 |
| Cameroon | CMR | 472,710.0 |
| Turkmenistan | TKM | 469,930.0 |
| Papua New Guinea | PNG | 452,860.0 |
| Morocco | MAR | 446,300.0 |
| Uzbekistan | UZB | 435,789.0 |
| Iraq | IRQ | 434,128.0 |
| Greenland | GRL | 410,450.0 |
| Sweden | SWE | 407,339.7 |
| Paraguay | PRY | 397,300.0 |
| Zimbabwe | ZWE | 386,850.0 |
| Norway | NOR | 365,123.0 |
| Japan | JPN | 364,500.0 |
| Germany | DEU | 348,880.0 |
| Congo | COG | 341,500.0 |
| Malaysia | MYS | 328,550.0 |
| Côte d'Ivoire | CIV | 318,000.0 |
| Viet Nam | VNM | 313,007.3 |
| Oman | OMN | 309,500.0 |
| Poland | POL | 306,210.0 |
| Finland | FIN | 303,890.0 |
| Philippines | PHL | 298,170.0 |
| Italy | ITA | 295,718.0 |
| Burkina Faso | BFA | 273,600.0 |
| New Zealand | NZL | 263,310.0 |
| Gabon | GAB | 257,670.0 |
| Ecuador | ECU | 248,360.0 |
| Guinea | GIN | 245,720.0 |
| United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | GBR | 241,930.0 |
| Lao People's Democratic Republic | LAO | 230,800.0 |
| Romania | ROU | 230,030.0 |
| Ghana | GHA | 227,540.0 |
| Belarus | BLR | 202,908.0 |
| Uganda | UGA | 200,520.0 |
| Guyana | GUY | 196,850.0 |
| Senegal | SEN | 192,530.0 |
| Kyrgyzstan | KGZ | 191,800.0 |
| Syrian Arab Republic | SYR | 183,630.0 |
| Cambodia | KHM | 176,520.0 |
| Uruguay | URY | 175,020.0 |
| Suriname | SUR | 160,507.6 |
| Tunisia | TUN | 155,360.0 |
| Nepal | NPL | 143,350.0 |
| Tajikistan | TJK | 139,960.0 |
| Bangladesh | BGD | 130,170.0 |
| Greece | GRC | 128,900.0 |
| Eritrea | ERI | 120,820.0 |
| Democratic People's Republic of Korea | PRK | 120,410.0 |
| Nicaragua | NIC | 120,340.0 |
| Benin | BEN | 112,760.0 |
| Honduras | HND | 111,890.0 |
| Bulgaria | BGR | 108,560.0 |
| Guatemala | GTM | 107,160.0 |
| Cuba | CUB | 104,220.0 |
| Iceland | ISL | 100,250.0 |
| Republic of Korea | KOR | 97,426.0 |
| Liberia | LBR | 96,320.0 |
| Malawi | MWI | 94,280.0 |
| Portugal | PRT | 91,605.2 |
| Hungary | HUN | 90,530.0 |
| Jordan | JOR | 88,780.0 |
| Serbia | SRB | 87,460.0 |
| Azerbaijan | AZE | 82,659.0 |
| Austria | AUT | 82,520.0 |
| Czechia | CZE | 77,220.0 |
| Panama | PAN | 74,340.0 |
| Sierra Leone | SLE | 72,180.0 |
| United Arab Emirates | ARE | 71,020.0 |
| Georgia | GEO | 69,490.0 |
| Ireland | IRL | 68,890.0 |
| Sri Lanka | LKA | 62,710.0 |
| Lithuania | LTU | 62,675.0 |
| Latvia | LVA | 62,227.0 |
| Croatia | HRV | 55,964.0 |
| Togo | TGO | 54,390.0 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | BIH | 51,200.0 |
| Costa Rica | CRI | 51,060.0 |
| Dominican Republic | DOM | 48,310.0 |
| Slovakia | SVK | 48,088.0 |
| Estonia | EST | 43,470.0 |
| Denmark | DNK | 40,000.0 |
| Switzerland | CHE | 39,511.4 |
| Bhutan | BTN | 38,117.0 |
| China, Taiwan Province of | TWN | 35,410.0 |
| Netherlands (Kingdom of the) | NLD | 33,690.0 |
| Republic of Moldova | MDA | 32,880.0 |
| Lesotho | LSO | 30,360.0 |
| Belgium | BEL | 30,333.0 |
| Armenia | ARM | 28,470.0 |
| Guinea-Bissau | GNB | 28,120.0 |
| Equatorial Guinea | GNQ | 28,050.0 |
| Solomon Islands | SLB | 27,990.0 |
| Haiti | HTI | 27,560.0 |
| Albania | ALB | 27,400.0 |
| Burundi | BDI | 25,680.0 |
| North Macedonia | MKD | 25,220.0 |
| Rwanda | RWA | 24,670.0 |
| Djibouti | DJI | 23,180.0 |
| Belize | BLZ | 22,810.0 |
| Israel | ISR | 21,640.0 |
| El Salvador | SLV | 20,720.0 |
| Slovenia | SVN | 20,140.0 |
| New Caledonia | NCL | 18,280.0 |
| Fiji | FJI | 18,270.0 |
| Kuwait | KWT | 17,820.0 |
| Eswatini | SWZ | 17,200.0 |
| Timor-Leste | TLS | 14,870.0 |
| Montenegro | MNE | 13,450.0 |
| Vanuatu | VUT | 12,190.0 |
| Qatar | QAT | 11,610.0 |
| Jamaica | JAM | 10,830.0 |
| Lebanon | LBN | 10,230.0 |
| Gambia | GMB | 10,120.0 |
| Bahamas | BHS | 10,010.0 |
| Cyprus | CYP | 9,240.0 |
| Puerto Rico | PRI | 8,870.0 |
| Palestine | PSE | 6,020.0 |
| Brunei Darussalam | BRN | 5,270.0 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | TTO | 5,130.0 |
| Cabo Verde | CPV | 4,030.0 |
| French Polynesia | PYF | 3,471.0 |
| Samoa | WSM | 2,830.0 |
| Luxembourg | LUX | 2,574.5 |
| Mauritius | MUS | 2,000.0 |
| Comoros | COM | 1,861.0 |
| Faroe Islands | FRO | 1,396.0 |
| China, Hong Kong SAR | HKG | 1,050.0 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | STP | 960.0 |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | TCA | 950.0 |
| Kiribati | KIR | 810.0 |
| Bahrain | BHR | 770.0 |
| Dominica | DMA | 750.0 |
| Tonga | TON | 720.0 |
| Singapore | SGP | 706.5 |
| Micronesia (Federated States of) | FSM | 700.0 |
| Saint Lucia | LCA | 610.0 |
| Isle of Man | IMN | 570.0 |
| Guam | GUM | 540.0 |
| Andorra | AND | 470.0 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | MNP | 460.0 |
| Palau | PLW | 460.0 |
| Seychelles | SYC | 460.0 |
| Curaçao | CUW | 444.0 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | ATG | 440.0 |
| Barbados | BRB | 430.0 |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | VCT | 390.0 |
| United States Virgin Islands | VIR | 350.0 |
| Grenada | GRD | 340.0 |
| Malta | MLT | 320.0 |
| Maldives | MDV | 300.0 |
| Niue | NIU | 260.0 |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | KNA | 260.0 |
| Cayman Islands | CYM | 240.0 |
| Cook Islands | COK | 240.0 |
| American Samoa | ASM | 200.0 |
| Channel Islands | CHI | 198.0 |
| Aruba | ABW | 180.0 |
| Marshall Islands | MHL | 180.0 |
| Liechtenstein | LIE | 160.0 |
| British Virgin Islands | VGB | 150.0 |
| Montserrat | MSR | 100.0 |
| Anguilla | AIA | 90.0 |
| San Marino | SMR | 60.0 |
| Bermuda | BMU | 54.0 |
| Saint Martin (French part) | MAF | 50.0 |
| Sint Maarten (Dutch part) | SXM | 34.0 |
| China, Macao SAR | MAC | 30.3 |
| Tuvalu | TUV | 30.0 |
| Naoero | NRU | 20.0 |
| Gibraltar | GIB | 10.0 |
| Monaco | MCO | 2.0 |
| Holy See | VAT | 0.4 |