The True Size of Canada
Compare Canada with other countries and regions on an interactive map to see their actual relative sizes.
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Type a country name and press Enter to add it to the map.
How big is Canada?
Canada covers about 9,984,670 km² (3,855,101 sq mi). On a Mercator map its apparent size depends entirely on latitude — drag the outline above onto another part of the world to see how it really compares.
Canada on a Mercator map
The centre of this country lies at 60° N, where the Mercator projection stretches area by about 5×. Its outline takes up as much room on the map as 49,546,043 km² would at the equator.
Its real area is 9,984,670 km². The country closest to that size: United States.
Canada compared with other countries
Total areas including inland water; ratios are rounded.
| Country | Area (km²) | Compared with Canada |
|---|---|---|
 Russia | 17,098,242 | 1.7× larger |
 United States | 9,833,517 | about the same |
 China | 9,596,960 | about the same |
 Brazil | 8,515,770 | 1.2× smaller |
 Australia | 7,741,220 | 1.3× smaller |
 India | 3,287,263 | 3× smaller |
 Argentina | 2,780,400 | 3.6× smaller |
 Greenland | 2,166,086 | 4.6× smaller |
 Mexico | 1,964,375 | 5.1× smaller |
 Indonesia | 1,904,569 | 5.2× smaller |
 Pakistan | 796,095 | 13× smaller |
 France | 643,801 | 16× smaller |
 Ukraine | 603,550 | 17× smaller |
 Japan | 377,915 | 26× smaller |
 Poland | 312,685 | 32× smaller |
 New Zealand | 268,838 | 37× smaller |
 United Kingdom | 243,610 | 41× smaller |
 Netherlands | 41,543 | 240× smaller |
Countries closest in size to Canada
Measured on the globe from the same outlines the map draws, so the figures are approximate. Drag any of them next to Canada to see the difference for yourself.
Slightly larger
- Russia16,879,748 km²71% larger
Slightly smaller
- United States9,439,451 km²4.4% smaller
- China9,371,251 km²5.1% smaller
- Brazil8,499,424 km²13.9% smaller
How big Canada looks at other latitudes
Drag the outline so its centre sits on each of these latitudes and the map draws it this many times larger than its real area. Mercator stretches area roughly by the square of the scale, so the growth is steep.
| Where it actually sits (60° N) | 5× its real size |
| At the equator (Indonesia, Kenya, Ecuador) | its real size |
| At 30° (Egypt, northern Mexico, central Argentina) | 1.3× its real size |
| At 45° (northern Italy, Minnesota, New Zealand) | 2.1× its real size |
| At 60° (Oslo, Helsinki, southern Alaska) | 4.8× its real size |
| At 72° (central Greenland) | 11.5× its real size |
Questions about the size of Canada
How big is Canada?+
Canada has a total area of about 9,984,670 km² (3,855,101 sq mi), including inland water. The country closest to it in size is United States.
Is Canada bigger than Russia?+
Not quite. Russia covers about 16,879,748 km², roughly 71% more than Canada. Put both on the map and the difference stays the same wherever you drag them, because every outline is drawn at its true size.
Why does Canada look bigger on a map than it really is?+
Because the Mercator projection stretches area the further you get from the equator. The centre of Canada is at 60° N, where the map draws it about 5× too large — as much room as 49,546,043 km² would take at the equator. Drag the outline toward the equator and it shrinks to its honest size.