USA vs Canada Size: How Do They Compare?
By Marko Visic · Updated Nov 11, 2026
Canada covers 3,855,103 sq mi and the USA 3,796,742 sq mi, so by total area Canada is 1.02× the USA, larger by 58,361 sq mi. Count land only and the USA is larger by 20,882 sq mi; Canada's lead is its fresh water. The USA has 8.72× as many people and 13.30× the GDP in US dollars, and the two share a 5,525-mile border.
USA vs Canada by the numbers
| Metric | USA | Canada | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total area (sq mi) | 3,796,742 | 3,855,103 | Canada 1.02× |
| Total area, contiguous US only (sq mi) | 3,120,426 | 3,855,103 | Canada 1.24× |
| Land area (sq mi) | 3,531,905 | 3,511,023 | USA 1.01× |
| Water in the total area (sq mi)* | 264,837 | 344,080 | Canada 1.30× |
| Population (USA July 1, 2025; Canada 2025 est.) | 341,784,857 | 39,187,155 | USA 8.72× |
| People per sq mi of land | 96.8 | 11.2 | USA 8.67× |
| GDP, current US$ (2025) | $30.86T | $2.32T | USA 13.30× |
| GDP at PPP (2025) | $30.86T | $2.79T | USA 11.06× |
| GDP per person, current US$ | $90,295 | $59,233 | USA 1.52× |
| Coastline (mi) | 12,380 | 125,567 | Canada 10.14× |
| Highest point | Mount McKinley (Denali), 20,310 ft | Mount Logan, 19,551 ft | USA 1.04× |
| Mean elevation (ft) | 2,493 | 1,598 | USA 1.56× |
| Standard time zones | 6 (50 states) | 6 | |
| First-level divisions | 50 states + DC | 10 provinces, 3 territories | |
| Land borders | Canada, Mexico | USA; Denmark (Greenland), 0.8 mi |
* The US figure is the Census total: inland water, the US share of the Great Lakes, coastal water and the territorial sea. Canada's is fresh water, the same 344,080 sq mi (891,163 km²) that Statistics Canada lists as its freshwater area. Ratios divide the larger figure by the smaller; the contiguous-US row is the area the drawings use.
Which is bigger, the USA or Canada?
Canada is larger by total area: 3,855,103 sq mi against 3,796,742, a difference of 58,361 sq mi, a little more than Illinois (57,914 sq mi). The CIA World Factbook puts Canada second in the world after Russia and the USA third, and its Canada entry calls Canada “slightly larger than the US.”
On land the order reverses. The USA has 3,531,905 sq mi of land and Canada 3,511,023, so the USA has 20,882 sq mi more. Canada's total includes 344,080 sq mi (891,163 km²) of water, 8.9% of the country, and all of it is fresh water: Statistics Canada lists the same 891,163 km² as Canada's freshwater area, and the Factbook notes that Canada has more fresh water than any other country. The US total counts 264,837 sq mi of water of every kind: inland water (85,647 sq mi), the US share of the Great Lakes (60,094), coastal water (42,337) and the territorial sea (76,759).
The map above shows the contiguous 48 states only, 3,120,426 sq mi, which cover 81% of Canada's area. Alaska alone, 665,384 sq mi, is 98% of the US area the drawing leaves out.
Population: 8.72× as many people in the USA
The USA had 341.8 million residents on July 1, 2025 (Census Bureau) and Canada 39.2 million (CIA World Factbook, 2025 estimate), 8.72× as many. That is 96.8 people per square mile of land in the USA and 11.2 in Canada.
Most Canadians live near the United States: the Factbook puts about 90% of the population within 100 mi (160 km) of the US border. Ontario is the most populous province, followed by Quebec and British Columbia.
The economy: the USA's is 13.3× Canada's
In the IMF's World Economic Outlook (October 2026), US GDP in 2025 was $30.86 trillion and Canada's $2.32 trillion at market exchange rates, 13.30× as large. At purchasing power parity Canada's GDP was $2.79 trillion and the US lead 11.06×. Divided by population, US GDP was about $90,295 per person and Canada's about $59,233.
The border: 5,525 miles
The boundary runs 5,525 mi (8,891 km), including 1,538 mi (2,475 km) between Alaska and Canada. Thirteen US states touch it, and Alaska has the longest stretch (Congressional Research Service, from International Boundary Commission figures).
From the Lake of the Woods west to the Rocky Mountains the line has followed the 49th parallel since the Convention of 1818, and the Oregon Treaty of 1846 carried it on to the Pacific, leaving all of Vancouver Island on the British side. The Rush-Bagot Pact of 1817 removed the US and British fleets from the Great Lakes, apart from small patrol vessels (Office of the Historian). The Factbook lists one other land border for Canada: 0.8 mi (1.3 km) with Denmark (Greenland).
Coastline: Canada's is 10.1× as long
Canada's coastline is 125,567 mi (202,080 km) and the USA's 12,380 mi (19,924 km) on the CIA World Factbook's figures. The Factbook credits the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, 36,563 islands, with giving Canada the longest coastline in the world.
Drawn to scale: the USA next to Canada
Both countries at the same area per pixel, side by side. The US drawing is the contiguous 48 states; Canada is drawn with its Arctic islands.
Mercator world maps exaggerate the difference. Computed from our map data with a Mercator projection, Canada is drawn at 5.14× its true area and the USA, with Alaska, at 2.29×, so on such a map Canada looks 2.3 times the size of the USA.
Methodology and sources
- Area
- USA: US Census Bureau, State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates (2010) (land and total area; the total includes inland, coastal, Great Lakes and territorial water). Canada: CIA World Factbook, final edition: Canada (total, land and water area), and Statistics Canada, Canada Year Book 2012, Table 15.6, Land and freshwater area (archived), which gives the same figures with the water as freshwater. The contiguous US is the US total less Alaska and Hawaii.
- Population
- USA: US Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates (July 1, 2025). Canada: CIA World Factbook, 2025 estimate; where Canadians live: the Factbook's geography note and population distribution.
- 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, highest points, elevation, time zones, provinces, borders
- CIA World Factbook, final edition: United States and CIA World Factbook, final edition: Canada; US zones also in Code of Federal Regulations, 49 CFR Part 71, Standard Time Zone Boundaries. Miles and feet are converted from the Factbook's kilometers and meters.
- US–Canada border
- Congressional Research Service report RS21729, U.S. International Borders: Brief Facts (US–Canada lengths from the International Boundary Commission, US–Mexico lengths from the US Geological Survey): the length, the 13 states on it and the length in each. Kilometers and the Alaska section are the Factbook's.
- Border history
- Rush-Bagot Pact, 1817 and Convention of 1818 and The Oregon Territory, 1846, Office of the Historian, US Department of State (retrieved November 11, 2026).
- Mercator factors
- Computed from our map data with a Mercator projection: the projected area of each country's shape divided by its true area.
- Drawings
- Shapes from us-atlas (US Census Bureau cartographic boundaries) and world-atlas (Natural Earth 1:50m) for the drawings. The US is drawn as the contiguous 48 states and scaled with their area (3,120,426 sq mi, Census 2010 total less Alaska and Hawaii); Canada is scaled with its total area.
Frequently asked questions
Related size comparisons
- Open the USA and Canada in the interactive tool
- Russia vs Canada: Russia is 1.71× Canada (total area).
- USA vs Russia: Russia is 1.74× the USA (total area).
- USA vs China: The USA is 1.02× China (total area).
- USA vs Europe: The USA is 1.66× Europe without Russia (total area).
- Mexico vs USA: The USA is 5.01× Mexico (total area).
- Alaska vs Lower 48: The lower 48 is 5.18× Alaska (land area).
- All size comparisons
Suggested citation: SimpleMapLab (2026). USA vs Canada Size. Retrieved from https://www.simplemaplab.com/size-comparisons/usa-vs-canada. CC-BY 4.0.