USA vs China Size: How Do They Compare?

By Marko Visic · Updated Nov 11, 2026

The USA covers 3,796,742 sq mi and China 3,705,407 sq mi, so by total area the USA is 1.02× China, larger by 91,335 sq mi. Count land only and China is the larger of the two. China has 4.12× as many people, the USA has the larger economy in US dollars, and China keeps one time zone where the 50 states use six.

China drawn to scale over the contiguous 48 states, both in equal-area projections. China is 1.19× the contiguous US, so it spills past the outline; Alaska and Hawaii, 18% of US area, are not drawn.

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USA vs China by the numbers

Metric	USA	China	Ratio
Total area (sq mi)	3,796,742	3,705,407	USA 1.02×
Land area (sq mi)	3,531,905	3,600,947	China 1.02×
Population (USA July 1, 2025; China 2025 est.)	341,784,857	1,407,181,209	China 4.12×
People per sq mi of land	97	391	China 4.04×
GDP, current US$ (2025)	$30.86T	$19.63T	USA 1.57×
GDP at PPP (2025)	$30.86T	$41.26T	China 1.34×
GDP per person, current US$	$90,295	$13,947	USA 6.47×
Coastline (mi)	12,380	9,010	USA 1.37×
Highest point	Mount McKinley (Denali), 20,310 ft	Mount Everest, 29,032 ft	China 1.43×
Longest river	Missouri, 2,341 mi	Yangtze, 3,915 mi	China 1.67×
Standard time zones	6 (50 states)	1 (UTC+8)
First-level divisions	50 states + DC	23 provinces*, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities, 2 special administrative regions

* The Factbook's count, which follows China in listing Taiwan as a province. Ratios divide the larger figure by the smaller.

Which is bigger: the USA or China?

On total area the USA is larger: 3,796,742 sq mi against 3,705,407 sq mi, a difference of 91,335 sq mi, a little more than Minnesota (86,936 sq mi). The CIA World Factbook ranks the two countries third and fourth in the world, after Russia and Canada, and its China entry describes China as “slightly smaller than the US.”

The ranking turns on water. The US total, which the Census Bureau publishes and the Factbook repeats, counts every kind of water inside US boundaries: 85,647 sq mi of lakes and rivers, the US share of the Great Lakes (60,094 sq mi), coastal water (42,337 sq mi) and territorial sea (76,759 sq mi). China's total counts 104,460 sq mi of inland water and no sea. Compare land with land and China is larger by 69,042 sq mi: 3,600,947 against 3,531,905.

The map above shows the contiguous 48 states only, 3,120,426 sq mi. China is 1.19× that, which is why its outline spills past the US border in the drawing: Alaska alone makes up most of the difference.

Population: 4.12× as many people in China

China has 1.41 billion people (CIA World Factbook, 2025 estimate) and the USA 341.8 million (Census Bureau, July 1, 2025). On roughly the same land that works out to 391 people per square mile in China and 97 in the USA, 4.04× as dense.

China is no longer the world's most populous country on the Factbook's figures: India's 2025 estimate, 1.42 billion, is above China's. The USA is third.

The economy: the USA leads in dollars, China at purchasing power parity

In the IMF's World Economic Outlook (October 2026), US GDP in 2025 was $30.86 trillion and China's $19.63 trillion at market exchange rates, so the US economy was 1.57× China's. Measured at purchasing power parity, which values each country's output at the same set of prices, China's GDP was $41.26 trillion, 1.34× the USA's. China first moved ahead on that measure in 2016 in the IMF's series; in dollars the USA stays ahead through 2031, the last year the IMF projects.

Divided by population, US GDP was about $90,295 per person in 2025 and China's about $13,947.

One time zone against six

China keeps a single standard time, UTC+8, across the whole country; the Factbook notes that it is the largest country by area with one time zone and that it used five before 1949. The 50 US states span six standard zones under federal law, from Eastern (UTC-5) to Hawaii-Aleutian (UTC-10); the contiguous states use four.

China reaches from about 73°E to 135°E. At Kashgar, near 76°E, the sun stands highest close to 3 p.m. Beijing time, about 2 hours 40 minutes later than in Beijing at 116°E (the sun takes four minutes to cross each degree of longitude).

Drawn to scale: the USA next to China

Both countries at the same area per pixel, side by side. The US drawing is the contiguous 48 states.

The contiguous US in a US Albers projection (parallels 29.5°N and 45.5°N), China in a conic equal-area projection (parallels 25°N and 47°N), at one scale.

What else is about the size of the USA or China?

By total area (CIA World Factbook; Europe here is its 45 countries without Russia, Turkey and the Caucasus):

Canada is 1.02× the USA (USA vs Canada).
The USA is 1.15× Brazil and 1.27× Australia.
The USA is 1.66× Europe without Russia (USA vs Europe).
China is 1.24× Australia, 1.13× Brazil and 2.92× India (India vs USA).
On land area the USA holds 6.1% of Earth's land and China 6.3%.

Methodology and sources

Area: USA: US Census Bureau, State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates (2010) (the total includes inland, coastal, Great Lakes and territorial water). China: CIA World Factbook, final edition: China (total and land area). The Factbook uses the same US total.
Population: USA: US Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates (July 1, 2025). China and India: CIA World Factbook, 2025 estimates.
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, rivers, divisions, time zones: CIA World Factbook, final edition: United States and CIA World Factbook, final edition: China; US zones also in Code of Federal Regulations, 49 CFR Part 71, Standard Time Zone Boundaries. Miles are converted from the Factbook's kilometers.
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).

Frequently asked questions

By total area, yes, narrowly. The USA covers 3,796,742 sq mi and China 3,705,407 sq mi, so the USA is 1.02× China, 91,335 sq mi larger (a little more than Minnesota). By land area alone China is larger, 3,600,947 vs 3,531,905 sq mi.

The US total counts 179,190 sq mi of water that most countries' totals leave out: the US share of the Great Lakes (60,094 sq mi), coastal water (42,337) and territorial sea (76,759). China's total includes only its inland water. Without that water the USA would be smaller than China.

On the CIA World Factbook's figures the USA is third and China fourth, after Russia and Canada; the Factbook's China entry calls China the world's fourth largest country. On land area alone China comes before the USA.

China has about 4.12× as many people: 1.41 billion (CIA World Factbook, 2025 estimate) against 341.8 million in the USA (Census Bureau, July 1, 2025). Per square mile of land that is 391 people in China and 97 in the USA.

In current US dollars the USA: $30.86 trillion in 2025 against China's $19.63 trillion, 1.57× (IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2026)). At purchasing power parity China is larger, $41.26 trillion against $30.86 trillion.

At purchasing power parity, in 2016 in the IMF's series. In current US dollars China has not passed the USA, and the IMF's projections, which run to 2031, keep the USA ahead.

One. All of China keeps Beijing time, UTC+8; the Factbook notes that China is the largest country by area with a single time zone and that it used five before 1949. The 50 US states span six standard time zones, from Eastern (UTC-5) to Hawaii-Aleutian (UTC-10).

The USA: 12,380 miles against China's 9,010 miles on the CIA World Factbook's figures (19,924 km and 14,500 km).

China shares Mount Everest, 29,032 ft (8,849 m), with Nepal. The highest point in the USA is Mount McKinley (Denali) in Alaska, 20,310 ft (6,190 m). Everest is 1.43× as high.

The Yangtze, 3,915 mi (6,300 km), is China's longest. The Missouri, 2,341 mi (3,768 km), is the longest US river in the Factbook's list, ahead of the Mississippi.

The Factbook lists 23 provinces (China counts Taiwan as one of them), 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities and 2 special administrative regions, Hong Kong and Macau. The USA has 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Related size comparisons

Open the USA and China 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 Europe: The USA is 1.66× Europe without Russia (total area).
India vs USA: The USA is 2.99× India (total area).
Brazil vs USA: The USA is 1.15× Brazil (total area).
Greenland vs USA: The USA is 4.54× Greenland (total area).
All size comparisons

Suggested citation: SimpleMapLab (2026). USA vs China Size. Retrieved from https://www.simplemaplab.com/size-comparisons/usa-vs-china. CC-BY 4.0.