Russia vs Canada Size: How Much Bigger Is Russia?

By Marko Visic · Updated Nov 11, 2026

Russia covers 6,601,668 sq mi and Canada 3,855,103 sq mi, so by total area Russia is 1.71× Canada, larger by 2,746,566 sq mi. They are the two largest countries in the world. Canada has 5.37× Russia's coastline and more water; Russia has 3.58× as many people.

Canada drawn to scale over Russia, both in equal-area projections. Canada's area is 58% of Russia's.

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Russia vs Canada by the numbers

Metric	Russia	Canada	Ratio
Total area (sq mi)	6,601,668	3,855,103	Russia 1.71×
Land area (sq mi)	6,323,482	3,511,023	Russia 1.80×
Water area (sq mi)	278,187	344,080	Canada 1.24×
Population (2025 est.)	140,134,279	39,187,155	Russia 3.58×
People per sq mi of land	22.2	11.2	Russia 1.99×
GDP, current US$ (2025)	$2.57T	$2.32T	Russia 1.11×
GDP at PPP (2025)	$7.23T	$2.79T	Russia 2.59×
GDP per person, current US$	$18,356	$59,233	Canada 3.23×
Coastline (mi)	23,396	125,567	Canada 5.37×
Land borders	14 countries, 13,923 mi	2 countries, 5,525 mi	Russia 2.52×
Highest point	Mount Elbrus, 18,510 ft	Mount Logan, 19,551 ft	Canada 1.06×
Longest river	Yenisey-Angara, 3,442 mi	Mackenzie, 2,635 mi	Russia 1.31×
Time zones	11	6
First-level divisions	83 federal subjects*	10 provinces, 3 territories

* The CIA World Factbook's count: 46 provinces, 21 republics, 9 krais, 4 autonomous districts, 2 federal cities and 1 autonomous province, which leaves out Crimea and Sevastopol. Ratios divide the larger figure by the smaller.

How much bigger is Russia than Canada?

The CIA World Factbook gives Russia a total area of 6,601,668 sq mi (17,098,242 km²) and Canada 3,855,103 sq mi (9,984,670 km²), and calls them the largest and second-largest countries in the world. Russia is 1.71× Canada; the difference, 2,746,566 sq mi, is 2.16× the area of India.

Canada has more water. Its total includes 344,080 sq mi of water, 8.9% of the country, against 278,187 sq mi (4.2%) in Russia, and by the Factbook's account it holds more fresh water than any other country. Compare land with land and Russia is 1.80× Canada: 6,323,482 against 3,511,023 sq mi.

Together the two countries hold 17.1% of Earth's land, Russia 11.0% and Canada 6.1%, measured against the Factbook's 57.5 million sq mi of world land.

Coastline: Canada has 5.4× as much

The Factbook gives Canada 125,567 miles (202,080 km) of coastline, the longest in the world, and Russia 23,396 miles (37,653 km). It explains Canada's lead by the 36,563 islands of its Arctic Archipelago, several of them among the world's largest. Per square mile of land, Canada has 9.7× as much coast as Russia.

People and economy

Russia has 140.1 million people and Canada 39.2 million (CIA World Factbook, 2025 estimates), 3.58× as many in Russia. Russia has 22.2 people per square mile of land and Canada 11.2. The Factbook notes that about 90% of Canadians live within 100 miles (160 km) of the US border, and that much of Russia lacks the soil and climate for agriculture.

In the IMF's World Economic Outlook (October 2026), Russia's GDP in 2025 was $2.57 trillion and Canada's $2.32 trillion at market exchange rates, so Russia's economy was 1.11× Canada's. Adjusted for purchasing power, Russia's GDP was $7.23 trillion, 2.59× Canada's $2.79 trillion. Per person, Canada's GDP was 3.23× Russia's, about $59,233 against $18,356.

Borders and time zones

Russia touches 14 countries along 13,923 miles (22,407 km) of land borders. Two of them, Lithuania and Poland, meet Russia only at the Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic, which the Factbook notes was annexed from Germany after World War II. Canada has two neighbors: the USA, along 5,525 miles (8,891 km), 1,538 miles (2,475 km) of it with Alaska, and Denmark, whose Greenland meets Canada for 0.8 mile (1.3 km) on Tartupaluk (Hans Island), where an agreement signed on June 14, 2022 set a land boundary.

Russia spans 11 time zones, which the Factbook calls the largest number of contiguous time zones of any country; it added two zones in 2014 and stopped observing daylight saving time. Canada has six zones and moves its clocks forward an hour from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.

Drawn to scale: Russia next to Canada

Russia and Canada side by side at one area per pixel, each in an equal-area projection centered on it.

Russia (conic equal-area projection, parallels 50°N and 70°N) and Canada (parallels 49°N and 77°N), drawn at one scale.

A Mercator world map enlarges both. Computed from our map data with a Mercator projection, Russia is drawn at 4.9× its true area and Canada at 5.1×, so on such a map Russia looks about 1.63× Canada. The Factbook gives both countries geographic coordinates of 60°N, where Mercator draws area at 4.0× its true size.

What else is about the size of Russia or Canada?

By total area (CIA World Factbook; the US total is the Census Bureau's, which the Factbook also uses):

Russia is 1.74× the USA (USA vs Russia).
Canada is 1.02× the USA, though the USA has slightly more land (USA vs Canada).
Russia is 1.78× China, 2.21× Australia and 1.20× Antarctica.
Canada is 1.04× China, 1.29× Australia and 3.04× India.

Methodology and sources

Area: CIA World Factbook, final edition: Russia and CIA World Factbook, final edition: Canada (total, land and water area). Russia's total leaves out Crimea, which the Factbook lists under Ukraine, noting that Russia annexed it in 2014 (about 10,400 sq mi, 27,000 km²). Comparisons use the Factbook entries for Australia, China, India and Antarctica, its World entry for Earth's land, and for the USA the US Census Bureau, State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates (2010), the total the Factbook also uses (Factbook: United States).
Population: CIA World Factbook, 2025 estimates, in the Russia and Canada entries.
GDP: IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2026), GDP in current US dollars (2025) and IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2026), GDP at purchasing power parity (2025), both countries from the same release. GDP per person divides that GDP by the populations above.
Coastline, borders, mountains, rivers, water, time zones, divisions: The Factbook entries for Russia and Canada, including their geography notes; miles and feet are converted from the Factbook's kilometers and meters. Tartupaluk: Global Affairs Canada, agreement on boundary disputes (June 14, 2022).
Drawings and Mercator: Shapes from us-atlas (US Census Bureau cartographic boundaries) and world-atlas (Natural Earth 1:50m) for the drawings. Mercator factors are computed from our map data with a Mercator projection (area on the map divided by true area); at a single latitude the factor is 1/cos²(latitude).

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Russia covers 6,601,668 sq mi (17,098,242 km²) and Canada 3,855,103 sq mi (9,984,670 km²), so Russia is 1.71× Canada by total area. Count land only and the ratio grows to 1.80×, because water makes up 8.9% of Canada's total and 4.2% of Russia's.

By 2,746,566 sq mi (7,113,572 km²). That difference is 2.16× the area of India and 92% of Australia's, on the CIA World Factbook's figures.

The CIA World Factbook calls Russia the largest country in the world and Canada the second largest and the largest in the Americas. The USA, at 3,796,742 sq mi, is third, so Canada is 1.02× the USA by total area; on land area alone the USA is slightly larger.

Yes, 5.37× as much: 125,567 miles (202,080 km) against Russia's 23,396 miles (37,653 km), both CIA World Factbook figures. For each square mile of land Canada has 9.7× as much coast as Russia.

Russia has 140.1 million people and Canada 39.2 million (CIA World Factbook, 2025 estimates), so Russia has 3.58× as many. That is 22.2 people per square mile of land in Russia and 11.2 in Canada.

Russia, by a small margin in dollars: $2.57 trillion against $2.32 trillion in 2025 at market exchange rates, according to the IMF's World Economic Outlook (October 2026). At purchasing power parity Russia's GDP is 2.59× Canada's. Per person Canada's GDP is 3.23× Russia's, about $59,233 against $18,356.

Russia has 11 and Canada six, according to the CIA World Factbook, which calls Russia's the largest number of contiguous time zones of any country. Russia added two zones in 2014 and dropped daylight saving time; Canada observes it from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.

Russia has 14 land neighbors in the CIA World Factbook: Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Norway, Poland and Ukraine. Canada has two: the USA and Denmark, whose Greenland meets Canada on Tartupaluk (Hans Island) along a 0.8-mile (1.3 km) boundary.

Canada. Mount Logan, its highest point, is 19,551 ft (5,959 m), 1,040 ft (317 m) higher than Mount Elbrus, Russia's highest point at 18,510 ft (5,642 m), which the CIA World Factbook calls the highest point in Europe.

The CIA World Factbook says Canada has more fresh water than any other country and at least 2 million lakes, possibly over 3 million, more than all other countries combined. In Russia it notes Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world, which it estimates holds one fifth of the world's fresh surface water. Water covers 344,080 sq mi of Canada and 278,187 sq mi of Russia.

The CIA World Factbook lists the Yenisey-Angara, 3,442 mi (5,539 km), first for Russia, ahead of the Ob-Irtysh, and the Mackenzie, 2,635 mi (4,241 km), first for Canada.

Related size comparisons

Open Russia and Canada in the interactive tool
USA vs Russia: Russia is 1.74× the USA (total area).
USA vs Canada: Canada is 1.02× the USA (total area).
USA vs China: The USA is 1.02× China (total area).
Greenland vs USA: The USA is 4.54× Greenland (total area).
Alaska vs Lower 48: The lower 48 is 5.18× Alaska (land area).
USA vs Europe: The USA is 1.66× Europe without Russia (total area).
All size comparisons

Suggested citation: SimpleMapLab (2026). Russia vs Canada Size. Retrieved from https://www.simplemaplab.com/size-comparisons/russia-vs-canada. CC-BY 4.0.