Land area

In brief

The "Land area" ranking covers 212 countries and territories. Lowest value: Monaco (2 km²). Highest value: Russia (16.4M km²). Median: 95,300 km² (data: 2023–2024). The top 10% of countries exceed 1.2M km², while the bottom 10% stay below 441 km². By continent, the median is highest in South America (812K km²) and lowest in Oceania (811 km²).

Median by continent

Why this indicator matters

This indicator gives the size of a country's land, excluding lakes and major rivers. It lets you compare the space actually available for living, farming, building or protecting nature. It is a basis for calculating population density.

What makes this indicator vary

Area is set by history and borders: it hardly changes. It can change slightly with a territorial agreement, an independence or works reclaiming land from the sea. The measurement also depends on what is excluded, such as inland water.

Reading precautions

This indicator counts land only: the total area, with lakes and inland waters, is slightly larger. A large territory is not necessarily usable, as it may be desert, frozen or mountainous. Disputed areas sometimes complicate measurement.