The 10 Largest and 10 Smallest Countries on Earth

The largest country on Earth is almost twice the size of the second-largest. The smallest is smaller than most city parks. Between them sit 193 others, and the distribution is wild. Here is the top and bottom of that list, with the context that makes each one memorable.

The 10 largest countries by area

Rounded to the nearest thousand square kilometres, via UN/CIA statistics. Together, these ten countries cover about 50% of the planet's land area.

1. Russia — 17,098,000 km². Spans eleven time zones and two continents. Its land area alone is greater than the surface of Pluto. About 40% of its territory is permafrost.
2. Canada — 9,985,000 km². Home to 2.8 million lakes, more than the rest of the world combined. Second-largest by area but 39th by population — density is about 4 people per km².
3. United States — 9,834,000 km². Third or fourth depending on whether you count Great Lakes water. The three biggest states (Alaska, Texas, California) are each larger than most countries.
4. China — 9,597,000 km². Edges out the US by land area alone (it has less inland water). Shares borders with 14 other countries — more than any country except Russia.
5. Brazil — 8,515,000 km². Larger than the contiguous United States and holds about 60% of the Amazon rainforest. Borders every South American country except Chile and Ecuador.
6. Australia — 7,692,000 km². Smallest continent, sixth-largest country, and the only country that is also a continent. Population density is 3.4 per km² — among the lowest on Earth.
7. India — 3,287,000 km². Slightly more than a third the size of Russia, but with more than ten times the population. Most populous country since overtaking China in 2023.
8. Argentina — 2,780,000 km². Longest north–south extent of any country in the world (~3,700 km).
9. Kazakhstan — 2,725,000 km². The largest landlocked country on Earth, and the largest that is not a traditional great power. Capital: Astana (again, as of 2022).
10. Algeria — 2,381,000 km². Largest country in Africa since South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011. About 80% of its territory is Sahara.

A note on "continents" and what's excluded

Antarctica (14 million km²) is larger than every country except Russia, but it is a continent, not a country — it has no permanent population and no sovereign government, governed instead by the Antarctic Treaty System since 1961.

The 10 smallest countries by area

The smallest ten countries together cover less than 1,500 km² — you could fit them all inside Greater London with room to spare. They break into roughly three groups: European microstates, Pacific island nations, and Caribbean island nations.

1. Vatican City — 0.44 km². An enclave inside Rome. Population ~800, most of them clergy. Its own postal service, newspaper, radio station, currency, and — famously — the world's shortest railway (300 metres).
2. Monaco — 2.02 km². A Mediterranean coastal strip between the sea and the French Alps. About 39,000 residents, making it the most densely populated country on Earth at roughly 19,000 people per km².
3. Nauru — 21 km². A single Pacific island. Once phosphate-rich, now mostly mined-out. Has no official capital — the government simply sits in the district of Yaren.
4. Tuvalu — 26 km². Nine coral atolls in the Pacific. Capital Funafuti. Highest point about 4.6 metres above sea level, making it highly vulnerable to sea-level rise.
5. San Marino — 61 km². Completely surrounded by Italy; claims to be the world's oldest surviving republic, founded in 301 CE.
6. Liechtenstein — 160 km². Alpine, between Austria and Switzerland. Only double-landlocked country in Europe (surrounded by landlocked countries).
7. Marshall Islands — 181 km². A string of 29 coral atolls in the Pacific. Former US Trust Territory; still in free association with the USA.
8. Saint Kitts and Nevis — 261 km². Twin-island Caribbean nation. Smallest country in the Americas.
9. Maldives — 298 km². Nearly 1,200 coral islands, of which around 200 are inhabited. Lowest high point of any country (2.4 m).
10. Malta — 316 km². A densely populated archipelago in the central Mediterranean. Smallest EU member state.

Bonus: small-but-not-the-smallest

Just outside the top ten: Grenada (344 km²), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (389 km²), Barbados (430 km²), Antigua and Barbuda (442 km²), Seychelles (455 km²). If you exclude Vatican City and Monaco as "not really countries" (which some lists do), the smallest "proper" country is Nauru.

Largest and smallest — by surprising metric

The "biggest" question can mean different things. Once you go beyond pure area, the answers shift:

• Largest country with no ocean coast (landlocked): Kazakhstan, ~2.7 million km².
• Largest country in the southern hemisphere: Brazil, ~8.5 million km². Australia is larger but most of it is in the south too — split between hemispheres differently.
• Largest country with no permanent rivers: Saudi Arabia, ~2.15 million km² of mostly desert with only seasonal wadis.
• Smallest country with a coastline: Monaco at 2 km² — a thin strip along the Mediterranean. Vatican City is smaller but landlocked inside Rome.
• Most-bordered country: China and Russia tie at 14 land borders each.
• Largest country never to have been colonised: depends on definition; serious candidates include Thailand, Iran, Ethiopia (briefly occupied 1936–41), and Russia/China (depending on how you treat Mongol/European intrusions).
• Largest country bordering only one other: Canada, bordering only the USA over its enormous southern boundary.
• Smallest country that is a UN member: Vatican City is technically a UN observer, not member; the smallest UN member is Monaco.

Tokyo vs the smallest 10 countries

Here's a comparison that puts microstate sizes in perspective: the Tokyo metropolitan area covers around 13,500 km² — and contains roughly 37 million people. The ten smallest countries on Earth combined cover under 1,500 km², about a tenth of Tokyo's metro area.

Density and population — a different leaderboard

Most-populous countries (2025 estimates):

1. India — ~1.44 billion
2. China — ~1.41 billion
3. United States — ~340 million
4. Indonesia — ~280 million
5. Pakistan — ~240 million
6. Nigeria — ~225 million
7. Brazil — ~215 million

Most densely populated (excluding city-states under 30 km²):

1. Bangladesh — ~1,250 per km²
2. Taiwan — ~655 per km²
3. South Korea — ~515 per km²
4. Rwanda — ~500 per km²
5. Netherlands — ~510 per km²

Least densely populated (excluding microstates): Mongolia (~2 per km²), Namibia (~3), Australia (~3.4), Iceland (~4), Suriname (~4).

Why size trivia matters for quiz performance

Large countries are easy — they take up so much of the globe that you can't miss them. The small ones are where quiz points are won and lost. Microstates (Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, Liechtenstein) and Pacific microstates (Nauru, Tuvalu, Palau, Kiribati) are the most-missed countries in our data. A good strategy: memorise the ten smallest as a cluster, then drill the Pacific cluster separately, then the Caribbean. See our memorisation guide for the chunking technique behind this.