USA vs Canada Size: How Do They Actually Compare?

The two largest countries in North America are virtually tied in area. Canada covers 3,855,100 sq mi; the USA covers 3,796,742 sq mi. Canada is 1.02× larger — just 58,378 sq mi more (the size of Iowa). But the USA has 8.21× the population, a 13× larger economy, and they share the world's longest peaceful border at 5,525 miles.

At a glance: USA vs Canada by the numbers

The size tie: Canada vs USA — depends on what you count

Canada and the USA are within 2% of each other in total area — effectively tied at the country scale. The exact ranking depends on what you include.

Total area (incl. water): Canada 3,855,100 sq mi vs USA 3,796,742 sq mi. Canada wins by 1.5%. This is the figure CIA Factbook reports.

Land area only: USA 3,531,905 sq mi vs Canada 3,511,022 sq mi. The USA wins by 0.6%. By land-only, the USA is the larger country.

The difference is water. Canada includes the share of the Great Lakes that lies on the Canadian side, its enormous Hudson Bay (which counts as Canadian territorial waters extending offshore), and the waterways of the Canadian Arctic archipelago. The USA also includes its Great Lakes share but has less large inland water relative to its total area.

For most rankings, Canada is listed as #2 in the world by area (after Russia) and the USA as #3 or #4 (alternating with China depending on source). Both are within 2% of each other.

The population inverse: USA has 8× more people on slightly less land

The most striking difference is population. The USA has 334.9 million people; Canada has 40.77 million. The USA is 8.21× more populous on slightly less land — making the USA 8.96× denser than Canada (95 vs 10.6 per sq mi).

Canada's population is uniquely concentrated. Roughly 90% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the US border. The northern 90% of Canada — Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, most of northern Quebec and Ontario — is essentially uninhabited. The northernmost permanent settlement (Alert, on Ellesmere Island) has 62 residents. Most Canadian provinces have populations smaller than US cities:

• Toronto metro alone (6.3M) ≈ 7 of Canada's 13 provinces and territories combined.
• Newfoundland and Labrador (519K) ≈ population of Sacramento, CA.
• Yukon (44K) ≈ smaller than a typical US college town.
• Nunavut (40K on 808,185 sq mi) has density of 1 person per 20 square miles.

The USA has nothing comparable. Even Alaska (1.29/sq mi) has higher density than half of Canada's territories. The USA's population is spread more evenly across its land — the densest US states have density 1,263/sq mi (NJ), while the densest Canadian province (PEI) is 65/sq mi.

The world's longest peaceful border (5,525 miles)

The USA and Canada share a border of 5,525 miles (8,891 km) — the world's longest international border between two countries. It comprises 3,987 mi of US-Canada mainland border plus 1,538 mi between Alaska and the Yukon/British Columbia. The border has been peaceful and largely demilitarized since the Rush-Bagot Treaty of 1817, which limited military presence on the Great Lakes after the War of 1812.

Famously straight: long stretches of the border follow the 49th parallel, agreed by the 1818 Anglo-American Convention and extended to the Pacific by the 1846 Oregon Treaty. The 49th-parallel border runs unobstructed from Lake of the Woods (Minnesota) to the Strait of Georgia (Washington) — about 1,260 miles of straight-line surveyed boundary, the longest such line in the world.

Over 200 official border crossings handle ~400,000 daily crossings in normal times. The Detroit-Windsor border ranks among the busiest international land borders in the world.

Coastline reversal: Canada has the world's longest coast

Canada has 151,485 miles of coastline — the world's longest, by a factor of 2.5× over the #2 country (Indonesia at ~59,000 mi). The USA has 12,380 miles. Canada has 12.2× more coastline than the USA on slightly more land.

The reason is geometry: Canada's Arctic archipelago contains the largest set of coastal islands of any country. Baffin Island (the world's 5th-largest island, 195,928 sq mi) alone has more coastline than most countries. Add Ellesmere, Victoria, Devon, Banks, Axel Heiberg, and thousands of smaller islands, and Canada's Arctic coastline alone exceeds the entire coastline of any other top-10 country.

Notably, Canada has more coastline than the rest of the world's top 10 largest countries combined. The Arctic islands account for roughly 60% of that total. The Atlantic, Pacific, and Hudson Bay coasts account for the rest.

Drawn to scale: USA next to Canada

Both countries rendered at the same area-per-pixel scale, side by side. Canada's outline is visually dominated by its Arctic archipelago and Hudson Bay; the USA's by the contiguous lower 48 plus Alaska.

Why this comparison matters

The USA vs Canada question feels straightforward and turns out to be one of the most counterintuitive comparisons on Earth. Most readers come in believing one is much larger than the other; the answer is that they are within 1.5% of each other — closer in size than any other two countries in the global top six. Setting them side by side reshapes how readers picture North America. Canada is not a sparse strip across the top of the map; it is the world's second-largest country, with more coastline than the other top-ten countries combined.

The comparison also frames the world's deepest bilateral relationship. The two countries share the longest peaceful border, the largest two-way trade flow between any two G7 nations, and an integrated supply chain in autos, energy, agriculture, and aerospace under the USMCA framework signed in 2020.

Geography and climate

Canada spans 2,890 mi (4,650 km) from Cape Columbia on Ellesmere Island (82.5°N, the closest land to the North Pole) to Middle Island in Lake Erie (41.7°N) — about 41 degrees of latitude. The country covers six terrestrial ecozones: tundra, boreal forest (the world's largest at 1.36 million sq mi), prairie, montane cordillera, mixed forest, and Atlantic maritime. Mean elevation: about 1,600 ft. Canada has roughly 879,800 lakes (more than the rest of the world combined) and 9% of the world's freshwater supply.

The USA spans 2,680 mi (4,313 km) from Point Barrow, Alaska (71.4°N) to Ka Lae, Hawaii (18.9°N) — about 53 degrees of latitude when offshore territories are counted. Climate bands cover Arctic, subarctic, temperate continental, humid subtropical, Mediterranean, semi-arid, arid, and tropical. The Rockies, Appalachians, Sierra Nevada, and Cascades carve the country into distinct watersheds; mean elevation is roughly 2,500 ft. The USA contains every Koppen climate type except polar ice cap.

Population and density

The USA's 334.9 million residents (US Census 2024 vintage estimate) make it the world's third-most populous country. Population is concentrated in the Northeast Megalopolis (Boston–Washington, 50 million), the California coast (28 million), the Texas Triangle (20 million), and the Southeast metros (Atlanta, Tampa, Miami, Charlotte). About 83% of Americans live in urban areas. National density is 95/sq mi; the densest state is New Jersey at 1,263/sq mi.

Canada's 40.77 million residents (Statistics Canada Q1 2024) cluster within 100 miles of the US border. The Quebec City–Windsor Corridor along the lower Great Lakes and St. Lawrence holds about 51% of Canadians on roughly 2% of the country's land. Toronto (6.3M metro), Montreal (4.3M), and Vancouver (2.6M) are the only Canadian metros over 2 million. Nunavut, Canada's largest territory at 808,185 sq mi, has 40,000 residents — a density of 0.05/sq mi, among the lowest of any inhabited region on Earth.

The economy and what people do

The USA's $28.78 trillion economy (IMF 2024) is the world's largest at roughly 26% of global GDP. Services account for about 78% of output; finance, tech, healthcare, and entertainment dominate. The dollar serves as the global reserve currency. Per-capita GDP: ~$86,000.

Canada's $2.2 trillion economy (Statistics Canada, 2024) ranks among the world's ten largest. The economy is concentrated in Ontario (38% of GDP), Quebec (19%), Alberta (16%, mostly oil sands), and British Columbia (14%). Canada is the largest source of US energy imports (4 million barrels of oil per day) and the second-largest US auto-parts supplier. About 75% of Canadian exports go to the USA. Currency: Canadian dollar. Per-capita GDP: ~$54,000.

12 surprising facts about USA vs Canada

1. Canada is 1.015× the USA. 58,378 sq mi larger — the size of Iowa.
2. By LAND area only, the USA is slightly larger. USA 3.53M vs Canada 3.51M sq mi. Canada's edge is all water.
3. The USA has 8.21× Canada's population. 335M vs 41M.
4. The USA's economy is roughly 13× Canada's by nominal GDP.
5. The USA-Canada border is the world's longest. 5,525 miles between two countries.
6. The 49th parallel border is 1,260 miles long and perfectly straight. Longest straight-line international border in the world.
7. 90% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the US. Northern Canada is nearly empty.
8. Canada has 12.2× more coastline. 151,485 mi vs 12,380 mi — Canada's coast is longer than any other country's by 2.5×.
9. Newfoundland time is UTC-3:30. One of only a handful of half-hour offset zones in the world.
10. Both have 6 time zones. Canada Atlantic to Pacific; USA Hawaii to Eastern.
11. Toronto's metro is bigger than 7 of Canada's 13 sub-national units combined. 6.3M vs 6.0M total in the smallest provinces/territories.
12. Mount Logan (Canada, 19,551 ft) is 96% the height of Denali (Alaska, 20,310 ft). Two highest peaks in North America, both in the northwest.

Frequently asked questions

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• Alaska vs Lower 48 — Lower 48 is 5.18× Alaska.
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Suggested citation: SimpleMapLab (2026). USA vs Canada Size. Retrieved from https://www.simplemaplab.com/size-comparisons/usa-vs-canada. CC-BY 4.0.