The Largest Countries in the World

Want to know which are the largest countries in the world 2020? Here’s an updated list of the world’s largest countries by their total area. 

How to measure the Largest Countries in the world

To measure the landmass and size of the country’s area is by far the most accurate and fair way of measuring the largest countries in the world. You can also rank countries by their population, but then you get a list of the most populated countries in the world. 

If you’re familiar with world geography, the number one largest country in the world might not be so surprising, but it’s still interesting to see how it differs when measuring the total area or total population.

15. Indonesia

If you’re looking at the world map, Indonesia doesn’t seem very big as its made up of several island groups, but if you put them all together, you’ll get a landmass of 1 910 931 km².

14. Mexico

Mexico City is one of the most populated cities in the world, and the country itself is also quite large with more than 3000 km long border to the USA, and a total area of 1 964 375 km². 

Mexico is especially famous for its vibrant Mexican food culture and the national celebration known as Day of the Dead and its numerous ancient historic sites, such as Chichen Itza and Palenque.

13. Saudi Arabia

Mecca is located in Saudi Arabia, which is the holiest place on Earth for Muslims. Many are aware of all the pilgrims coming here every year, but few people around the world probably know that Saudi Arabia is also a massive country. 

The total landmass is 2 206 714 km², which makes Saudi Arabia the largest country in the Middle East.

12. Denmark

Denmark is quite a small country by itself, but if you also include Greenland (the biggest island in the world) and the Faroe Islands, which both belong to the Kingdom of Denmark, it will have a total landmass of 2 210 573 km².

However, without Greenland, Denmark’s total area will only be 42 933 km², which is one of many interesting facts about Denmark. 

11. Democratic Republic of Congo

The second-largest country in Africa only gets the 11th place on this list with a size of 2 344 858 km². It was previously known as Zaire and has been hit hard by bloody wars, corruption, and foreign interests in the natural resources.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is also one of the poorest countries in the world, even though it’s also one of the richest countries in the world by natural resources. It is home to rainforests, elephants, chimpanzees, and gorillas.

10. Algeria

Algeria is Africa’s largest country by size with an area of 2 381 741 km². Most of the country’s population lives around the Northern coast and the majority of the land area is covered by the Sahara Desert.

Algeria is also one of the driest countries on Earth, although there are also tropical oases and beach destinations along the coast. 

9. Kazakhstan

In Central Asia, you’ll find this gigantic country with beautiful nature and nomadic tribes roaming the lands. Kazakhstan has a total area of 2 724 902 km². Although it has a massive size of land, there are only some 18 million people living in Kazakhstan. 

8. Argentina

Argentina is another large country known for its nature, where many travelers dream of visiting Patagonia. Those who plan to visit and hike around the country need to plan a long vacation though because Argentina has a total size of 2 796 427 km², which makes it the second-largest country in South America.

It’s the largest Spanish speaking country in terms of size, although large areas of the country are uninhabited. 

7. India

India is a huge country with lots of people and an ancient culture dating back thousands of years. India has a size of 3 287 263 km²  and is thereby the 7th largest country in the world. 

Several of the largest cities in India is home to millions of people, and they are on a path to become mega-cities. New Delhi is one of the most populated cities in the world already with an ever-increasing number of inhabitants. 

6. Australia

Another popular destination among backpackers who wants to work at the same time as traveling around. There is plenty of space in Australia, but most of it is actually desert or uninhabited out in the bush. 

Australia has a landmass of 7 692 024 km² and is sometimes labeled as the world’s largest island with the majority of its population lives along the coasts. It is also home to some of the most dangerous animals in the world.

5. Brazil

Famous for being home to the Amazon rainforest and Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil also has one of the largest economies in the world, but when it comes to size it’s “only” the fifth largest country in the world with a size of 8 515 767 km², which makes it the largest country in South America!

4. China

You might know that China is the most populated country in the world, but it’s actually not the largest in terms of area, even though the country is massive with a size of approximately 9 600 000 km². 

Several cities in China are mega-cities with over 10 million residents living in each, and even more people living in the metropolitan areas. 

3. USA

“The land of the free” is a big one with a size of 9 833 517 square kilometers. The USA is also one of the most populated countries in the world and has the world’s largest economy depending on how you measure. 

New York is the most populated city in the US, even though Sitka in Alaska is the biggest city in the United States in terms of area. 

2. Canada

With 9 984 670 km² in landmass, Canada is the second-largest country in the world with more than 100 000 square kilometers more land than the U.S. A big chunk of the land is wild nature, and much of it is uninhabited.

1. Russia

Russia is the largest country in the world by size with twice as much land compared to Canada at 17 098 242 km². Quite interesting though, most of the land is located in Siberia which is largely uninhabited although it is one of the richest places on Earth when it comes to natural resources.

Russia is also one of the largest countries in Europe, and the majority of the Russian population lives in the European part of the country, in cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg. 

Now that you know about the largest countries in the world by size, it might also be interesting to know which are the most populous countries in the world because it is quite different from the other part of the list of the world’s largest countries.

Largest Countries in the world by population

These are the five most populated countries in the world. 

1. China – 1.4 billion people
2. India – 1.3 billion people
3. The United States of America – 327 million people
4. Indonesia – 261 million people
5. Pakistan – 207 million people

More about the Largest Countries in the world 2020

All of the largest countries in the world are home to many people, but surprisingly both Russia and Canada are relatively densely populated considering the size of their countries. China and India are also some of the largest countries in the world by size, but they are vastly more densely populated. 

It’s also quite fascinating that nearly 3 billion people are living in India and China combined, that’s roughly 40% of the total world population! Russia is the largest country in the world with a size of 17 098 242 km², but there are only 143,8 million people living in the country.

When the United Nations put together their latest report on how many people there are in the world, they also provided their recent prognosis that India will overtake China as the most populated country worldwide by 2027. 

The Largest Countries in the world by continent

• Africa: Algeria
• Asia: Russia
• Europe: Denmark
• North America: Canada
• Oceania: Australia
• South America: Brazil
• Antarctica: None

25 Largest Countries in the World By Area

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