Russia is the largest country in the world by far, with a total area of just over 17 million square kilometers. After Antarctica, the next three countries are Canada, the U.S., and China; all between 9.5 and 10 million square kilometers. The figures given include internal water surface area (such as lakes or rivers) - if the figures were for land surface only then China would be the second largest country in the world, the U.S. third, and Canada (the country with more lakes than the rest of the world combined) fourth. Russia Russia has a population of around 145 million people, putting it in the top ten most populous countries in the world, and making it the most populous in Europe. However, it's vast size gives it a very low population density, ranked among the bottom 20 countries. Most of Russia's population is concentrated in the west, with around 75 percent of the population living in the European part, while around 75 percent of Russia's territory is in Asia; the Ural Mountains are considered the continental border. Elsewhere in the world Beyond Russia, the world's largest countries all have distinctive topographies and climates setting them apart. The United States, for example, has climates ranging from tundra in Alaska to tropical forests in Florida, with various mountain ranges, deserts, plains, and forests in between. Populations in these countries are often concentrated in urban areas, and are not evenly distributed across the country. For example, around 85 percent of Canada's population lives within 100 miles of the U.S. border; around 95 percent of China lives east of the Heihe–Tengchong Line that splits the country; and the majority of populations in large countries such as Australia or Brazil live near the coast.

The average for 2021 based on 196 countries was 656013 sq. km. The highest value was in Russia: 16376870 sq. km and the lowest value was in Monaco: 2 sq. km. The indicator is available from 1961 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Russia is the largest country in Europe, and also the largest in the world, its total size amounting to 17 million square kilometers (km2). It should be noted, however, that over three quarters of Russia is located in Asia, and the Ural mountains are often viewed as the meeting point of the two continents in Russia; nonetheless, European Russia is still significantly larger than any other European country. Ukraine, the second largest country on the continent, is only 603,000 km2, making it about 28 times smaller than its eastern neighbor, or seven times smaller than the European part of Russia. France is the third largest country in Europe, but the largest in the European Union. The Vatican City, often referred to as the Holy Sea, is both the smallest country in Europe and in the world, at just one km2. Population Russia is also the most populous country in Europe. It has around 144 million inhabitants across the country; in this case, around three quarters of the population live in the European part, which still gives it the largest population in Europe. Despite having the largest population, Russia is a very sparsely populated country due to its size and the harsh winters. Germany is the second most populous country in Europe, with 83 million inhabitants, while the Vatican has the smallest population. Worldwide, India and China are the most populous countries, with approximately 1.4 billion inhabitants each. Cities Moscow in Russia is ranked as the most populous city in Europe with around 13 million inhabitants, although figures vary, due to differences in the methodologies used by countries and sources. Some statistics include Istanbul in Turkey* as the largest city in Europe with its 15 million inhabitants, bit it has been excluded here as most of the country and parts of the city is located in Asia. Worldwide, Tokyo is the most populous city, with Jakarta the second largest and Delhi the third.

Based on land area, Brazil is the largest country in Latin America by far, with a total area of over 8.5 million square kilometers. Argentina follows with almost 2.8 million square kilometers. Cuba, whose surface area extends over almost 111,000 square kilometers, is the Caribbean country with the largest territory.

Brazil: a country with a lot to offer

Brazil's borders reach nearly half of the South American subcontinent, making it the fifth-largest country in the world and the third-largest country in the Western Hemisphere. Along with its landmass, Brazil also boasts the largest population and economy in the region. Although Brasília is the capital, the most significant portion of the country's population is concentrated along its coastline in the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

South America: a region of extreme geographic variation

With the Andes mountain range in the West, the Amazon Rainforest in the East, the Equator in the North, and Cape Horn as the Southern-most continental tip, South America has some of the most diverse climatic and ecological terrains in the world. At its core, its biodiversity can largely be attributed to the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest, and the Amazon river, the world's largest river. However, with this incredible wealth of ecology also comes great responsibility. In the past decade, roughly 80,000 square kilometers of the Brazilian Amazon were destroyed. And, as of late 2019, there were at least 1,000 threatened species in Brazil alone.

The statistic shows the largest countries in South America, based on land area. Brazil is the largest country by far, with a total area of over 8.5 million square kilometers, followed by Argentina, with almost 2.8 million square kilometers.

Copy of https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/kisoibo/countries-databasesqlite

Updated the name of the table from 'countries of the world' to 'countries', for ease of writing queries.

Info about the dataset:

Content

Table Total Rows Total Columns countries of the world **0 ** ** 20** Country, Region, Population, Area (sq. mi.), Pop. Density (per sq. mi.), Coastline (coast/area ratio), Net migration, Infant mortality (per 1000 births), GDP ($ per capita), Literacy (%), Phones (per 1000), Arable (%), Crops (%), Other (%), Climate, Birthrate, Deathrate, Agriculture, Industry, Service

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements Source: All these data sets are made up of data from the US government. Generally they are free to use if you use the data in the US. If you are outside of the US, you may need to contact the US Govt to ask. Data from the World Factbook is public domain. The website says "The World Factbook is in the public domain and may be used freely by anyone at anytime without seeking permission." https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/docs/faqs.html

Inspiration

When making visualisations related to countries, sometimes it is interesting to group them by attributes such as region, or weigh their importance by population, GDP or other variables.

Russia was the largest country in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region, with a total area of over 17 million square kilometers in 2024. Furthermore, Russia was the largest country in the world, followed by Canada, the United States, and China. Ranking second among the CIS countries was Kazakhstan, whose land area comprised about 2.7 million square kilometers.

World Countries Generalized represents generalized boundaries for the countries of the world. It has fields for official names and country codes. The generalized political boundaries improve draw performance and effectiveness at a global or continental level.This layer is best viewed out beyond a scale of 1:5,000,000.This layer's geography was developed by Esri, Garmin International, Inc., the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (The World Factbook), and the National Geographic Society for use as a world basemap. It is updated annually as country names or significant borders change.

World Countries provides a detailed basemap layer for the country boundaries of the world. This layer has been designed to be used as a basemap and includes fields for official names and country codes, along with fields for continent and display. Particularly useful are the fields LAND_TYPE and LAND_RANK that separate polygons based on their size. These fields are helpful for rendering at different scales by providing the ability to turn off small islands that may clutter small-scale views. The data is sourced from Garmin International, Inc. with additional content from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (The World Factbook), and International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This layer was published in October 2024 and is updated every 12-18 months or as significant changes occur.

The average for 2021 based on 192 countries was 14.4 percent. The highest value was in Bangladesh: 60.5 percent and the lowest value was in Djibouti: 0.1 percent. The indicator is available from 1961 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The average for 2023 based on 196 countries was 0.51 percent. The highest value was in India: 17.91 percent and the lowest value was in Andorra: 0 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Algeria is the biggest country in Africa, with an area exceeding 2.38 million square kilometers as of 2020. The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan follow with a total area of around 2.34 million and 1.88 million square kilometers, respectively. On the other hand, Seychelles is the smallest country on the continent, with an area of only 460 square kilometers. Overall, Africa’s total area exceeds 30 million square kilometers, being the second largest continent in the world after Asia. Nigeria and Ethiopia lead the ranking of the most populated countries in Africa.

How have the African countries been formed?

The political geography of Africa has been influenced by its colonial history. Between the 19th and 20th Century, the European colonizers have divided up Africa. The partition of the territories was merely driven by strategic purposes: Borders between countries were artificially created in the absence of a geographic border. Following the decolonization, most countries gained their independence in the second half of the 1900s. The newest country in Africa is South Sudan, which became independent in 2011.

Africa's physical geography

Geographically, the African continent is mostly constituted by plains and tablelands. Inner plateaus are prevalent in the sub-Saharan region. In the center-north, the arid Sahara Desert extends for around nine million square kilometers, being the largest subtropical desert in the world. The continent also has some of the biggest water basins worldwide, namely the Nile, Congo, and Niger rivers. East Africa has, instead, the highest summit on the continent, the Kilimanjaro. Peaking at 5,895 meters, the mountain dominates Tanzania’s landscape and attracts thousands of climbers each year.

1 Overview World Administrative Boundaries are available from various sources (UN, WHO, Global Administrative Areas [GADM], Natural Earth, World Bank). We would like to have the most accurate one with a reasonable size for an interactive world map in a Data Exploration Application, called CLIMINET. We provide a complete Geospatial Data that covers at least all 249 countries in the international ISO 3166-1 standard. We aim to maintain a reasonable data size, with countries' boundaries as accurate as possible, to ensure FLUIDITY in data visualization applications. The data are optimized for efficient performance and smooth interactions in interactive world maps for the best possible user experience. 2. Data Overview Number of Spatial Features: 275 countries/territories Data Sources: Compiled from multiple sources to ensure completeness and precision (WHO, Global Administrative Areas [GADM]) CRS Options: WGS84 [EPSG:4326] World Robinson (1963) [ESRI:54030] World Winkel-Tripel (Winkel III) - (1921) [ESRI:54042] Data Level: Level 0 (Countries) File Format: GeoJSON File Size: WGS84 [EPSG:4326]: 18.86 MB World Robinson (1963) [ESRI:54030]: 30.91 MB World Winkel-Tripel (Winkel III) - (1921) [ESRI:54042]: 30.90 MB 3. Data Revision Date The data were last updated on 2024-12-19. For further information on data structure and implementation, refer to the metadata files.

In 2025, India overtook China as the world's most populous country and now has almost 1.46 billion people. China now has the second-largest population in the world, still with just over 1.4 billion inhabitants, however, its population went into decline in 2023. Global population As of 2025, the world's population stands at almost 8.2 billion people and is expected to reach around 10.3 billion people in the 2080s, when it will then go into decline. Due to improved healthcare, sanitation, and general living conditions, the global population continues to increase; mortality rates (particularly among infants and children) are decreasing and the median age of the world population has steadily increased for decades. As for the average life expectancy in industrial and developing countries, the gap has narrowed significantly since the mid-20th century. Asia is the most populous continent on Earth; 11 of the 20 largest countries are located there. It leads the ranking of the global population by continent by far, reporting four times as many inhabitants as Africa. The Demographic Transition The population explosion over the past two centuries is part of a phenomenon known as the demographic transition. Simply put, this transition results from a drastic reduction in mortality, which then leads to a reduction in fertility, and increase in life expectancy; this interim period where death rates are low and birth rates are high is where this population explosion occurs, and population growth can remain high as the population ages. In today's most-developed countries, the transition generally began with industrialization in the 1800s, and growth has now stabilized as birth and mortality rates have re-balanced. Across less-developed countries, the stage of this transition varies; for example, China is at a later stage than India, which accounts for the change in which country is more populous - understanding the demographic transition can help understand the reason why China's population is now going into decline. The least-developed region is Sub-Saharan Africa, where fertility rates remain close to pre-industrial levels in some countries. As these countries transition, they will undergo significant rates of population growth.

Land area (sq. km) in World was reported at 129718826 sq. Km in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. World - Land area (sq. km) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

The average for 2021 based on 194 countries was 207903.4 sq. km. The highest value was in Russia: 8153116 sq. km and the lowest value was in Gibraltar: 0 sq. km. The indicator is available from 1990 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This dataset is part of the Geographical repository maintained by Opendatasoft. This dataset contains data for countries. Processors and tools are using this data. EnhancementsMerge countries and Dependencies/Sovereign states (like France and overseas territories).Simplify geometries to provide better performance across the services.

The average for 2023 based on 196 countries was 40.69 million. The highest value was in India: 1428.63 million and the lowest value was in Tuvalu: 0.01 million. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The Country boundaries at level 0 dataset is part of the Global Administrative Areas (GADM) 3.6 vector dataset series which includes distinct datasets representing administrative boundaries for all countries in the world. GADM makes use of high spatial resolution images and an extensive set of attributes to map administrative areas at all levels of political sub-division. The National level 0 attributes comprise country name in English and ISO 3166-1 alpha3 coding. Please read the GADM 3.6 - Global Administrative Areas dataset series metadata for more information.

Data publication: 2020-12-01

Supplemental Information:

The dataset was originally produced for the BioGeomancer project, with collaboration from the International Rice Research Institute and of California, Berkeley, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. The development of GADM was partly supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore foundation for the BioGeomancer project.

Citation:

© 2009-2018 GADM

Contact points:

Resource Contact: Robert Hijmans

Metadata Contact: Robert Hijmans

Data lineage:

GADM unique ID (GID) starts with the three-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code. If there are subdivisions these are identified by a number from 1 to n, where n is the number of subdivisions at level 1. This value is concatenated with the country code, using a dot to delimit the two. For example, AFG.1, AFG.2, ..., AFG.n. If there are second-level subdivisions, numeric codes are assigned within each first-level subdivision and these are concatenated with the first level identifier, using a dot as a delimiter. For example, AFG.1.1, AFG.1.2, AFG.1.3, ..., and AFG.2.1, AFG.2.2, .... And so forth for the third, fourth, and fifth levels. Finally, there is an underscore followed by a version number appended to the code. For example, AFG.3_1 and AFG.3.2_1. The GID codes are persistent after version 3.6 (there were errors in the codes in version 3.4). If an area changes, for example, if it splits into two new areas, two new codes will be assigned, and the old code will not be used anymore. The version only changes when there is a major overhaul of the divisions in a country, for example when a whole new set of subdivisions is introduced.

Resource constraints:

The data are freely available for academic use and other non-commercial use. Redistribution, or commercial use is not allowed without prior permission. See the license for more details.

Online resources:

GADM v.3 Dataset Download: The spatial data by country

GADM Historical Data Download

World Countries is a detailed layer of country level boundaries which is best used at large scales (e.g. below 1:2m scale). For a more generalized layer to use at small-to-medium scales, refer to the World Countries (Generalized) layer. It has been designed to be used as a layer that can be easily edited to fit a users needs and view of the political world. Included are attributes for name and ISO codes, along with continent information. Particularly useful are the Land Type and Land Rank fields which separate polygons based on their areal size. These attributes are useful for rendering at different scales by providing the ability to turn off small islands which may clutter small scale views.This dataset represents the world countries as they existed in January 2015.