The True Size of United States
Compare United States with other countries and regions on an interactive map to see their actual relative sizes.
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How big is United States?
United States covers about 9,833,517 km² (3,796,741 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.
United States on a Mercator map
The centre of this country lies at 45° N, where the Mercator projection stretches area by about 2.2×. Its outline takes up as much room on the map as 21,407,692 km² would at the equator.
Its real area is 9,833,517 km². The country closest to that size: China.
United States compared with other countries
Total areas including inland water; ratios are rounded.
| Country | Area (km²) | Compared with United States |
|---|---|---|
 Russia | 17,098,242 | 1.7× larger |
 Canada | 9,984,670 | 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 | 3.5× smaller |
 Greenland | 2,166,086 | 4.5× smaller |
 Mexico | 1,964,375 | 5× smaller |
 Indonesia | 1,904,569 | 5.2× smaller |
 Pakistan | 796,095 | 12× smaller |
 France | 643,801 | 15× smaller |
 Ukraine | 603,550 | 16× smaller |
 Japan | 377,915 | 26× smaller |
 Poland | 312,685 | 31× smaller |
 New Zealand | 268,838 | 37× smaller |
 United Kingdom | 243,610 | 40× smaller |
 Netherlands | 41,543 | 237× smaller |
Countries closest in size to United States
Measured on the globe from the same outlines the map draws, so the figures are approximate. Drag any of them next to United States to see the difference for yourself.
How big United States 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 (45° N) | 2.2× its real size |
| At the equator (Indonesia, Kenya, Ecuador) | its real size |
| At 30° (Egypt, northern Mexico, central Argentina) | 1.4× its real size |
| At 45° (northern Italy, Minnesota, New Zealand) | 2.2× its real size |
| At 60° (Oslo, Helsinki, southern Alaska) | 3.8× its real size |
| At 72° (central Greenland) | 6.2× its real size |
Questions about the size of United States
How big is United States?+
United States has a total area of about 9,833,517 km² (3,796,741 sq mi), including inland water. The country closest to it in size is China.
Is United States bigger than Canada?+
Not quite. Canada covers about 9,872,129 km², roughly 4.6% more than United States. 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 United States 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 United States is at 45° N, where the map draws it about 2.2× too large — as much room as 21,407,692 km² would take at the equator. Drag the outline toward the equator and it shrinks to its honest size.