Country and territory sizes in this map

What the order means

Every number is calculated from the original Natural Earth 1:50m polygon for that mapped feature, before the display outline is simplified. The source contains places with different political status. A position here therefore means “position among the 241 entries in this map,” not an official rank of sovereign states. Some small islands are missing or simplified at this map scale.

The table excludes Antarctica from the order; it remains available on the interactive map. A different ranking based on official land or total-area statistics may have different figures and a different order. The area guide explains the definitions.

Places with a closer look

These profiles connect the area figure to the map projection, a useful comparison and a note about the source boundary.

• GreenlandGreenland is a large Arctic island whose outline becomes exceptionally prominent on Mercator maps. Its boundary-derived area is substantial, but the familiar world-map image is a poor way to compare it with lower-latitude places.
• IndiaIndia is a useful reference for high-latitude comparisons because much of its outline lies closer to the equator than Greenland, Canada or Russia. Its area estimate comes from the same polygon calculation used for every entry in this atlas.
• RussiaRussia is the largest country feature in this atlas. It spans many longitudes and latitudes, which makes a single projected outline particularly sensitive to where and how a flat world map is cut.
• CanadaCanada follows Russia in the area order of the mapped country and territory features. Its many northern islands and extensive inland waters make the meaning of an “area” figure especially important.
• BrazilBrazil is one of the largest country features in the dataset. Its shape crosses low latitudes, so its apparent area on Mercator is less inflated than similarly large places farther north.
• AustraliaAustralia is a country and a major landmass; this entry measures the country feature in our map, including the parts represented in Natural Earth’s polygon. It does not stand for all of Oceania.
• JapanJapan’s outline is an archipelago, so its size is easier to understand through area than through the width of its bounding box. Compare it with the United Kingdom or Germany using the same calculation.
• United KingdomThe United Kingdom is smaller than Japan in this boundary dataset. Their island shapes and different latitudes make them a useful test of visual intuition.
• MadagascarMadagascar is a single large island whose area is easy to underestimate beside familiar European countries. In this map dataset, its polygon is more than twice the area of the United Kingdom’s.
• MexicoMexico and Indonesia are close in area in this dataset despite their very different shapes. It is a good pair for seeing why length across a map does not tell you how much surface a boundary encloses.
• IndonesiaIndonesia extends across a wide island chain near the equator. Its east–west span is striking on a map, yet the gaps between islands are not part of the country’s surface area.