Size Comparisons
US states and countries compared side by side and drawn to scale in equal-area projections. Each page has the maps, a table of area, population and GDP, and the source and year of every figure. To move shapes around yourself, use the country size comparison tool.
Why most maps get size wrong
Web maps such as Google Maps draw their base map in the Mercator projection (as Google's map coordinates documentation explains), and Mercator enlarges areas more the farther they are from the equator: at 50° latitude by about 2.4 times, at 70° by about 8.5 times. Computed from our map data, a Mercator map shows Greenland at 16.4 times its true area and Africa at 1.12 times, so the two look alike although Africa is 14.1 times larger. Alaska appears at 5.4 times its area and Texas at 1.4 times, yet the contiguous US is 5.18 times Alaska and Alaska is 2.18 times Texas by land area.
For why every flat map distorts something and which projection to use when, see What is a Map Projection? and the case study Why does Greenland look bigger than Africa?
The drawings on these pages use conic and azimuthal equal-area projections, which keep relative area at the cost of some distortion in shape. Side-by-side drawings put both shapes at one scale. In the “fits inside” drawings each copy is scaled so that its area relative to the outline matches the ratio in the page's table. Where the USA is drawn, the drawing shows the contiguous 48 states and says so.
Each page names its sources and their vintages: Census Bureau area (2010) and population (Vintage 2025), BEA and IMF GDP for 2025, the CIA World Factbook's final edition for countries, and NOAA for US coastlines. The text and drawings are published under CC-BY 4.0: reuse them with a link back.
US state size comparisons
Alaska has 570,641 sq mi of land and Texas 261,232 sq mi. Texas has 43.0× as many people: 31,709,821 to 737,270 on July 1, 2025.
Alaska has 570,641 sq mi of land and California 155,779 sq mi: 3 Californias fit inside Alaska with 103,304 sq mi to spare. California has 53× Alaska's population.
Texas has 261,232 sq mi of land and California 155,779 sq mi. California has 1.24× Texas's population and 1.47× its 2025 GDP.
The two smallest states: Delaware has 1,949 sq mi of land and Rhode Island 1,034 sq mi. Rhode Island has 5% more people (1,114,521 to 1,059,952).
California has 155,779 sq mi of land and Florida 53,625 sq mi. Florida has more general coastline, 1,350 miles to 840 (NOAA), and 1.7× California's people per square mile.
The contiguous 48 states and DC have 2,954,841 sq mi of land, Alaska 570,641 sq mi: 5 Alaskas fit with 101,636 sq mi left over. The 1867 purchase added 586,412 sq mi.
Country size comparisons
Russia covers 6,601,668 sq mi and Canada 3,855,103 sq mi, the two largest countries. Canada's 125,567-mile coastline is 5.4× Russia's (CIA World Factbook).
The USA covers 3,796,742 sq mi and Mexico 758,449 sq mi. The Mexican Cession of 1848 and the Gadsden Purchase of 1853 moved 558,657 sq mi from Mexico to the USA.
Canada covers 3,855,103 sq mi and the USA 3,796,742 sq mi, but the USA has more land: 3,531,905 sq mi to 3,511,023 sq mi. The USA has 8.7× Canada's population.
The USA covers 3,796,742 sq mi and China 3,705,407 sq mi; on land alone China is larger. China has 4.12× the USA's population.
Russia covers 6,601,668 sq mi and the USA 3,796,742 sq mi. The USA has 2.44× Russia's population and 12.0× its 2025 GDP (IMF).
The USA covers 3,796,742 sq mi and Brazil 3,287,957 sq mi, the largest country in South America. The USA has 1.54× Brazil's population.
The USA covers 3,796,742 sq mi and India 1,269,219 sq mi: just under three Indias would fit. India has 4.15× the USA's population.
The USA covers 3,796,742 sq mi and Greenland 836,330 sq mi. A Mercator map shows Greenland at 16.4× its true area, the USA at 2.3×.
The USA covers 3,796,742 sq mi and the UK 94,058 sq mi. Michigan alone, at 96,714 sq mi including its Great Lakes water, is larger than the UK.
Japan covers 145,914 sq mi and the UK 94,058 sq mi. Japan has 1.79× the UK's population.
Antarctica covers about 5.48 million sq mi (14.2 million km²) and Greenland 836,330 sq mi. Greenland's ice sheet is the world's second largest, after Antarctica's.
Africa's 54 countries and Western Sahara cover 11,807,872 sq mi, 3.11× the USA's 3,796,742 sq mi (CIA World Factbook areas, summed).
The USA covers 3,796,742 sq mi, 1.66× Europe's 45 countries without Russia (2,281,579 sq mi) and 2.32× the EU (1,635,664 sq mi).
State-vs-country size comparisons
California has 155,779 sq mi of land and the UK 93,410 sq mi. The UK has 1.75× California's population.
Mexico has 750,561 sq mi of land and Texas 261,232 sq mi. Mexico has 4.12× Texas's population; Texas has 1.60× Mexico's 2025 GDP.
Saudi Arabia has 830,000 sq mi of land and Texas 261,232 sq mi. Texas has 2.30× Saudi Arabia's 2025 GDP (BEA and IMF).
Texas has 261,232 sq mi of land and metropolitan France 212,345 sq mi. France's population, 68,512,806 with its overseas regions, is 2.16× Texas's.
Want to compare any two regions yourself?
The Country Size Comparison tool lets you drag countries and US states across a world map. Each shape keeps its true area as you move it to another latitude; you can rotate shapes, layer several at once and share a comparison by link.
All 50 US states ranked by land area
Every US state by land area, largest to smallest, from the Census Bureau's 2010 State Area Measurements. Click a state for its county list.
| Rank | State | Land area (sq mi) | % of US land | Census region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska | 570,641 | 16.16% | West |
| 2 | Texas | 261,232 | 7.40% | South |
| 3 | California | 155,779 | 4.41% | West |
| 4 | Montana | 145,546 | 4.12% | West |
| 5 | New Mexico | 121,298 | 3.43% | West |
| 6 | Arizona | 113,594 | 3.22% | West |
| 7 | Nevada | 109,781 | 3.11% | West |
| 8 | Colorado | 103,642 | 2.93% | West |
| 9 | Wyoming | 97,093 | 2.75% | West |
| 10 | Oregon | 95,988 | 2.72% | West |
| 11 | Idaho | 82,643 | 2.34% | West |
| 12 | Utah | 82,170 | 2.33% | West |
| 13 | Kansas | 81,759 | 2.31% | Midwest |
| 14 | Minnesota | 79,627 | 2.25% | Midwest |
| 15 | Nebraska | 76,824 | 2.18% | Midwest |
| 16 | South Dakota | 75,811 | 2.15% | Midwest |
| 17 | North Dakota | 69,001 | 1.95% | Midwest |
| 18 | Missouri | 68,742 | 1.95% | Midwest |
| 19 | Oklahoma | 68,595 | 1.94% | South |
| 20 | Washington | 66,456 | 1.88% | West |
| 21 | Georgia | 57,513 | 1.63% | South |
| 22 | Michigan | 56,539 | 1.60% | Midwest |
| 23 | Iowa | 55,857 | 1.58% | Midwest |
| 24 | Illinois | 55,519 | 1.57% | Midwest |
| 25 | Wisconsin | 54,158 | 1.53% | Midwest |
| 26 | Florida | 53,625 | 1.52% | South |
| 27 | Arkansas | 52,035 | 1.47% | South |
| 28 | Alabama | 50,645 | 1.43% | South |
| 29 | North Carolina | 48,618 | 1.38% | South |
| 30 | New York | 47,126 | 1.33% | Northeast |
| 31 | Mississippi | 46,923 | 1.33% | South |
| 32 | Pennsylvania | 44,743 | 1.27% | Northeast |
| 33 | Louisiana | 43,204 | 1.22% | South |
| 34 | Tennessee | 41,235 | 1.17% | South |
| 35 | Ohio | 40,861 | 1.16% | Midwest |
| 36 | Virginia | 39,490 | 1.12% | South |
| 37 | Kentucky | 39,486 | 1.12% | South |
| 38 | Indiana | 35,826 | 1.01% | Midwest |
| 39 | Maine | 30,843 | 0.87% | Northeast |
| 40 | South Carolina | 30,061 | 0.85% | South |
| 41 | West Virginia | 24,038 | 0.68% | South |
| 42 | Maryland | 9,707 | 0.27% | South |
| 43 | Vermont | 9,217 | 0.26% | Northeast |
| 44 | New Hampshire | 8,953 | 0.25% | Northeast |
| 45 | Massachusetts | 7,800 | 0.22% | Northeast |
| 46 | New Jersey | 7,354 | 0.21% | Northeast |
| 47 | Hawaii | 6,423 | 0.18% | West |
| 48 | Connecticut | 4,842 | 0.14% | Northeast |
| 49 | Delaware | 1,949 | 0.06% | South |
| 50 | Rhode Island | 1,034 | 0.03% | Northeast |
Total US land area: 3,531,905 sq mi for the 50 states and DC (US Census Bureau, State Area Measurements, 2010). The last column is each state's share of that total; regions are the Census Bureau's four regions.
Methodology
State areas are the US Census Bureau's 2010 State Area Measurements: land area, and total area including inland, coastal, Great Lakes and territorial water. Two states are compared by land area. The USA and other countries are compared by total area, using the CIA World Factbook's final edition for countries (the Factbook uses the Census total for the USA). A state and a country are compared by land area on both sides, because a state's Census total includes coastal and territorial sea that a country's Factbook total leaves out. Population is the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate for the USA and its states and the Factbook's estimate, with its year, for countries; GDP is BEA (states) and the IMF World Economic Outlook (countries) for 2025.
Outlines come from the public-domain us-atlas (Census Bureau cartographic boundaries) and world-atlas (Natural Earth 1:50m) data. Continent totals are sums of the Factbook's country areas: Africa's 54 countries and Western Sahara, and Europe's 45 countries without Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan and the Caucasus, with France counted without its overseas regions (212,935 sq mi).