The sum of the areas of all continents of the planet Earth it is 149,440,850 km², of which about half corresponds to the African and Asian continents. The continents are divided into countries, which have different areas. You countries with greater territorial extensionare located mainly in Asia and North America. Russia is one of the exceptions, as it is part of two different continents and represents the largest country by area of both, both in Europe and Asia.
Just like the land masses, the population is not evenly distributed across the planet, and this is due to a series of factors that can be physical (geomorphological or climatic characteristics), socioeconomic or historical. Of the more than seven billion people that make up the world's population, around 40% live in just two countries: China and India.
At the other extreme, taking into account the smallest area and the smallest population in the world, is the Vatican, located in Europe, more precisely within the limits of the city of Rome (Italy).
See too: The 10 poorest countries in the world
The 20 largest countries in the world in terms of land area
The following table lists, in descending order, the 20 largest countries in terms of land area in the world, according to data from United Nations (UN).
Parents |
Area in km² |
Russia |
17.098.246 |
Canada |
9.984.670 |
U.S |
9.833.517 |
China |
9.600.000 |
Brazil |
8.515.767 |
Australia |
7.692.060 |
India |
3.287.263 |
Argentina |
2.780.400 |
Kazakhstan |
2.724.902 |
Algeria |
2.381.741 |
Democratic Republic of Congo |
2.344.858 |
Saudi Arabia |
2.206.714 |
Greenland |
2.166.086 |
Mexico |
1.964.375 |
Indonesia |
1.910.931 |
Sudan |
1.886.000 |
Libya |
1.676.198 |
Will |
1.628.750 |
Mongolia |
1.564.116 |
Peru |
1.285.216 |
Source: UN (2020).
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The 20 largest countries in the world in population
The following table lists, in descending order, the largest countries by population. The ranking was prepared by world Bank and updated with UN data for the year 2020.
Parents |
Population |
China |
1.434.324.000 |
India |
1.380.004.000 |
U.S |
331.003.000 |
Indonesia |
273.524.000 |
Pakistan |
220.892.000 |
Brazil |
212.559.000 |
Nigeria |
206.140.000 |
Bangladesh |
164.689.000 |
Russia |
145.934.000 |
Mexico |
128.933.000 |
Japan |
126.476.000 |
Ethiopia |
114.964.000 |
Philippines |
109.581.000 |
Egypt |
102.334.000 |
Vietnam |
97.339.000 |
Democratic Republic of Congo |
89.561.000 |
Turkey |
84.339.000 |
Will |
83.993.000 |
Germany |
83.784.000 |
Thailand |
69.800.000 |
Source: World Bank and UN (2020).
See too: Countries that have less drinking water
the smallest country in the world
In territorial extension
O Vatican, whose official name is Vatican City State, is the smallest country in the world in territorial extension: 0.44 km².
in population
The smallest population in the world is, also, that of the Vatican: 801 inhabitants in 2020.
By Paloma Guitarrara
Geography teacher
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
GUITARRARA, Paloma. "The 20 largest countries in the world"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/maiores-paises-planeta.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.
