Top 10, 20, 50, 100 largest country in the world by area

Top 10, 20, 50, 100 largest country in the world by area : Russia remains the obvious champion when it comes to landmass, although on the list of largest countries by area the top 10 includes all inhabited continents. These ten countries represent almost 50% of the entire land mass of the Earth.

Top 10 Largest Countries by Area (2026)

Rank	Country	Total Area (sq. km)	Key Fact
1	Russia	17,098,242	Spans 11 time zones across Europe and Asia.
2	Canada	9,984,670	Has the longest coastline of any country in the world.
3	China	9,706,961	The largest country situated entirely in Asia.
4	United States	9,372,610	Third or fourth depending on how water territory is measured.
5	Brazil	8,515,767	The largest country in South America and the Southern Hemisphere.
6	Australia	7,692,024	The only country that is also an entire continent.
7	India	3,287,590	The largest country in South Asia.
8	Argentina	2,780,400	The largest Spanish-speaking nation by area.
9	Kazakhstan	2,724,900	The world’s largest landlocked country.
10	Algeria	2,381,741	The largest country in Africa.

Russia continues to lead the pack in terms of land area, but the list of the top 10 largest nations stretches across every inhabited continent. Collectively, these countries comprise almost half of the planet’s total land area.

Quick Observations

Combined, today they’re bigger than the entire continent of Africa: they are the “Big Three”: Russia, Canada and China.

Continental Leaders: Algeria has been Africa’s largest since the division of Sudan in 2011. Brazil occupies almost half of the continent of South America.

Landlocked Giant: Kazakhstan is also the only country here that doesn’t have direct access to an ocean, though it does touch the Caspian Sea.

Top 20 Largest Countries by Total Area

Rank	Country	Total Area (sq. km)	% of World Landmass	Note from Infographic
1	Russia	17,098,242	11.0%	Identified as #1 in the main header and top spotlight.
2	Canada	9,984,670	6.1%	Highlighted as #2 with a specific panel.
3	China	9,706,961	6.3%	Highlighted as #3 with a specific panel.
4	United States	9,372,610	6.1%	Highlighted as #4 with a specific panel.
5	Brazil	8,515,767	5.6%	Highlighted as #5 with a specific panel.
6	Australia	7,692,024	5.2%	Highlighted as #6 with a specific panel.
7	India	3,287,590	2.0%	Highlighted as #7 with a specific panel.
8	Argentina	2,780,400	~1.8%
9	Kazakhstan	2,724,900	~1.8%
10	Algeria	2,381,741	~1.6%
11	DR Congo	2,344,858	~1.6%
12	Greenland	2,166,086	~1.5%	(Note: Autonomous territory of Denmark)
13	Saudi Arabia	2,149,690	~1.4%
14	Mexico	1,964,375	~1.3%
15	Indonesia	1,904,569	~1.3%
16	Sudan	1,861,484	~1.3%
17	Libya	1,759,540	~1.2%
18	Iran	1,648,195	~1.1%
19	Mongolia	1,564,116	~1.1%
20	Peru	1,285,216	~0.9%

*Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

THE TOP 20: KEY TAKEAWAYS

Regional Giants: Each and every continent has colossuses. By area, Russia (Europe/Asia), Canada (North America), Brazil (South America), Australia (Oceania) and Algeria (Africa) come top in their regions.

The African continent, for instance—yes, while its biggest countries are elsewhere, it still claims 10th-11th and 16th-17th place.

Size ≠ Population → there is often a big mismatch To take one example, India ranks #1 in population (as of April 2023) but #7 in area. Russia is the largest country on Earth by a margin, yet its population only has a world ranking of about #9. Mongolia (#19) is among the sparsest countries in the world population-wise.

Top 50 Largest Countries by Total Area

Rank	Country	Area (sq km)
1	Russia	17098242
2	Canada	9984670
3	China	9706961
4	United States	9372610
5	Brazil	8515767
6	Australia	7692024
7	India	3287590
8	Argentina	2780400
9	Kazakhstan	2724900
10	Algeria	2381741
11	Democratic Republic of the Congo	2344858
12	Saudi Arabia	2149690
13	Mexico	1964375
14	Indonesia	1904569
15	Sudan	1886068
16	Libya	1759540
17	Iran	1648195
18	Mongolia	1564110
19	Peru	1285216
20	Chad	1284000
21	Niger	1267000
22	Angola	1246700
23	Mali	1240192
24	South Africa	1221037
25	Colombia	1141748
26	Ethiopia	1104300
27	Bolivia	1098581
28	Mauritania	1030700
29	Egypt	1001450
30	Tanzania	947300
31	Nigeria	923768
32	Venezuela	912050
33	Pakistan	881912
34	Namibia	824292
35	Mozambique	799380
36	Turkey	783562
37	Chile	756102
38	Zambia	752612
39	Myanmar	676578
40	Afghanistan	652230
41	South Sudan	644329
42	France	643801
43	Somalia	637657
44	Central African Republic	622984
45	Ukraine	603500
46	Madagascar	587041
47	Botswana	581730
48	Kenya	580367
49	Thailand	513120
50	Spain	505992

Top 100 largest countries and territories in the world by total area.

Top 100 Largest Countries by Total Area

Rank	Country / Territory	Total Area (sq. km)
1	Russia	17,098,242
2	Canada	9,984,670
3	China	9,706,961
4	United States	9,372,610
5	Brazil	8,515,767
6	Australia	7,692,024
7	India	3,287,590
8	Argentina	2,780,400
9	Kazakhstan	2,724,900
10	Algeria	2,381,741
11	DR Congo	2,344,858
12	Saudi Arabia	2,149,690
13	Mexico	1,964,375
14	Indonesia	1,904,569
15	Sudan	1,861,484
16	Libya	1,759,540
17	Iran	1,648,195
18	Mongolia	1,564,116
19	Peru	1,285,216
20	Chad	1,284,000
21	Niger	1,267,000
22	Angola	1,246,700
23	Mali	1,240,192
24	South Africa	1,221,037
25	Colombia	1,138,910
26	Ethiopia	1,104,300
27	Bolivia	1,098,581
28	Mauritania	1,030,700
29	Egypt	1,001,450
30	Tanzania	947,303
31	Nigeria	923,768
32	Venezuela	912,050
33	Namibia	824,292
34	Mozambique	801,590
35	Pakistan	796,095
36	Turkey	783,562
37	Chile	756,102
38	Zambia	752,618
39	Myanmar	676,578
40	Afghanistan	652,230
41	South Sudan	644,329
42	France	643,801
43	Somalia	637,657
44	Central African Republic	622,984
45	Ukraine	603,550
46	Madagascar	587,041
47	Botswana	581,730
48	Kenya	580,367
49	Yemen	527,968
50	Thailand	513,120
51	Spain	505,992
52	Turkmenistan	488,100
53	Cameroon	475,440
54	Papua New Guinea	462,840
55	Sweden	450,295
56	Uzbekistan	447,400
57	Morocco	446,550
58	Iraq	438,317
59	Paraguay	406,752
60	Zimbabwe	390,757
61	Norway	385,207
62	Japan	377,915
63	Germany	357,022
64	Republic of the Congo	342,000
65	Finland	338,145
66	Vietnam	331,210
67	Malaysia	329,847
68	Ivory Coast	322,463
69	Poland	312,685
70	Oman	309,500
71	Italy	301,340
72	Philippines	300,000
73	Ecuador	283,561
74	Burkina Faso	274,200
75	New Zealand	268,838
76	Gabon	267,667
77	Guinea	245,857
78	United Kingdom	243,610
79	Uganda	241,038
80	Ghana	238,533
81	Romania	238,391
82	Laos	236,800
83	Guyana	214,969
84	Belarus	207,600
85	Kyrgyzstan	199,951
86	Senegal	196,722
87	Syria	185,180
88	Cambodia	181,035
89	Uruguay	176,215
90	Suriname	163,820
91	Tunisia	163,610
92	Bangladesh	147,570
93	Nepal	147,181
94	Tajikistan	143,100
95	Greece	131,957
96	Nicaragua	130,370
97	North Korea	120,538
98	Malawi	118,484
99	Eritrea	117,600
100	Benin	112,622