USA vs Europe Size: How Do They Actually Compare?

By Marko Visic · Updated Nov 11, 2026

The USA covers 3,796,742 sq mi. Europe without Russia, 45 countries in all, covers 2,281,579 sq mi, so by total area the USA is 1.66× Europe and 2.32× the European Union (1,635,664 sq mi). Europe has more people: about 602 million in the 45 countries and 452 million in the EU, against 342 million in the USA.

The contiguous 48 states drawn to scale over Europe without Russia (45 countries), both in equal-area projections. The contiguous US is 1.37× Europe's area, so it covers more than Europe's outline, and the whole USA is 1.66×; Alaska and Hawaii (18% of US area) are left out of the drawing.

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Drag a European country over the USA in the interactive tool

Pick France, Germany, Spain or another country; the tool keeps each country's true area as you move it to any latitude.

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Which Europe? Three definitions against the USA

Definition	Countries	Area (sq mi)	Ratio
Europe without Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan and the Caucasus (metropolitan France)	45	2,281,579	USA 1.66×
EU plus the UK, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland	31	1,910,449	USA 1.99×
European Union (France with its overseas regions)	27	1,635,664	USA 2.32×
Russia alone, for comparison	1	6,601,668	Russia 1.74×

None of the sources used here splits Russia's area at the Urals, so this page leaves Russia out of Europe rather than estimating its European part. The CIA World Factbook places Russia in North Asia, extending from Eastern Europe, the part west of the Urals, to the North Pacific. Counted whole, Russia alone is 1.74× the USA and 2.89× the other 45 countries combined.

USA vs Europe by the numbers

Metric	USA	Europe without Russia	EU 27
Total area (sq mi)	3,796,742	2,281,579	1,635,664
Land area (sq mi)	3,531,905	2,203,579	1,579,003
Population*	341,784,857	602,445,267	452,426,417
People per sq mi of land	97	273	287
GDP, current US$ (2025)	$30.86T		$21.30T
GDP at PPP (2025)	$30.86T		$29.51T
GDP per person, current US$	$90,295		$47,075
Highest point	Mount McKinley (Denali), 20,310 ft	Mont Blanc, 15,781 ft	Mont Blanc, 15,781 ft
States or countries	50 states + DC	45 countries	27 member states
Official languages	English (Executive Order 14224)		24

* USA: July 1, 2025. Europe and the EU: sums of the CIA World Factbook's latest estimates (2024 or 2025, depending on the country); France's 68.5 million includes its five overseas regions, which the Europe area leaves out. Blank cells: no figure in the sources used here (the IMF publishes a European Union aggregate but none for this 45-country Europe).

How much bigger is the USA than Europe?

The USA's 3,796,742 sq mi is 1.66× the 2,281,579 sq mi of Europe without Russia, a difference of 1,515,163 sq mi, 2.00× the area of Mexico. On land area the ratio is 1.60×. The contiguous 48 states alone, 3,120,426 sq mi, are 1.37× Europe, whose area is 73% of theirs.

Against the European Union's 1,635,664 sq mi the USA is 2.32×, larger by 2,161,078 sq mi, 1.70× the area of India. The EU total counts France with its five overseas regions.

The largest of the 45 countries is Ukraine, 233,032 sq mi, followed by metropolitan France at 212,935 sq mi and Spain at 195,124 sq mi. Each has less land than Texas, which has 261,232 sq mi (Texas vs France).

Population: Europe has 1.76× as many people

Summing the CIA World Factbook's latest estimates (2024 or 2025, depending on the country), the 45 countries of Europe without Russia have 602.4 million people and the EU's 27 members 452.4 million. The USA had 341.8 million on July 1, 2025 (Census Bureau). Europe has 1.76× as many people as the USA, and the EU 1.32×.

Per square mile of land, Europe without Russia has 273 people, the EU 287 and the USA 97. The Netherlands, at 1,363 people per square mile of land, is denser than New Jersey (1,298), the densest US state.

The economy: the USA is 1.45× the EU in dollars

The IMF's World Economic Outlook (October 2026) puts 2025 GDP at $30.86 trillion for the USA and $21.30 trillion for the European Union at market exchange rates, a ratio of 1.45×. At purchasing power parity the two were close, $30.86 trillion against $29.51 trillion, 1.05×. Per person, US GDP was about $90,295 and the EU's about $47,075, dividing by the populations above.

In the IMF's series the EU's GDP in dollars was last larger than the USA's in 2011. The USA has been ahead in every year since, and the IMF's projections, which run to 2031, keep it ahead.

Currencies, borders and languages

According to the European Commission, 21 of the 27 EU members use the euro; Bulgaria adopted it on January 1, 2026. The Schengen area, whose members have abolished checks at their internal borders, has 29 countries: 25 EU members plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Bulgaria and Romania were the last to join, on January 1, 2025.

The EU has 24 official languages. Executive Order 14224 of March 1, 2025 designated English as the official language of the United States.

Drawn to scale: the USA next to Europe

Europe without Russia and the contiguous 48 states side by side at one area per pixel. France is drawn without its overseas regions.

Europe (conic equal-area projection, parallels 40°N and 65°N) and the contiguous US (US Albers, parallels 29.5°N and 45.5°N) at one scale; Alaska and Hawaii are not drawn.

A Mercator map enlarges area by 1/cos² of the latitude: about 1.6× at 38°N, the CIA World Factbook's geographic coordinates for the USA, and 2.5×, 2.6× and 2.9× at 51°N, 52°N and 54°N, its coordinates for Germany, Poland and the UK. On such a map those three countries are enlarged more than the contiguous US.

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

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

The USA is 17.83× metropolitan France, 27.54× Germany and 40.37× the UK (UK vs USA).
The USA is 2.20× the EU and the UK combined.
Alaska has 1.30× the land of metropolitan France, Germany and the UK combined: 570,641 against 440,377 sq mi.
Russia alone is 2.89× Europe without Russia and 1.74× the USA (USA vs Russia).

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; the Factbook uses the same total). Europe without Russia: the sum of the CIA World Factbook's total and land areas for Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France (metropolitan), Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Holy See (Vatican City). EU: the same sums for the 27 member states, France with its overseas regions. Other countries: the Factbook entries for Russia, France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Ukraine, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Mexico and India. Alaska and Texas land: US Census Bureau, State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates (2010).
Population: USA and New Jersey: US Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates (July 1, 2025) (density per square mile of Census land area). Europe and the EU: sums of the Factbook's latest estimates, 2024 or 2025 depending on the country; France's figure includes its five overseas regions. The Netherlands: CIA World Factbook, final edition: Netherlands.
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): the USA and the IMF's European Union aggregate from the same release, which also gives the series to 2031 used for the year the EU was last larger. GDP per person divides that GDP by the populations above.
EU membership, euro, Schengen, languages: European Union, EU countries; European Commission, EU countries and the euro; European Commission, Schengen area; European Union, Languages (all read November 11, 2026). US official language: Executive Order 14224, Designating English as the Official Language of the United States (March 1, 2025).
Highest points and coordinates: Factbook: United States (Mount McKinley, 20,310 ft in its elevation note), Factbook: France (Mont Blanc, 4,810 m, the highest of the 45 entries' highest points), and the geographic coordinates in the entries for the USA, Germany, Poland and the UK. The Mercator factor at a latitude is 1/cos²(latitude).
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); Europe is drawn as the 45 countries, France without its overseas regions.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, if Europe means the 45 countries counted here, without Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia: they cover 2,281,579 sq mi and the USA 3,796,742 sq mi, 1.66× as much. The EU is smaller still, 1,635,664 sq mi. Russia alone is 1.74× the USA, but the CIA World Factbook places it in North Asia, extending from Eastern Europe west of the Urals to the North Pacific.

By 1,515,163 sq mi, 2.00× the area of Mexico. The USA is 1.66× Europe without Russia by total area and 1.60× by land area, and the contiguous 48 states alone are 1.37× Europe.

Yes, 2.32× by total area: 3,796,742 sq mi against 1,635,664 sq mi for the 27 EU members, counting France with its overseas regions (CIA World Factbook). The difference, 2,161,078 sq mi, is 1.70× the area of India.

Yes. The 27 EU members and the UK cover 1,729,723 sq mi, and the USA is 2.20× that. With Norway, Switzerland and Iceland added the total is 1,910,449 sq mi, and the USA is still 1.99× as large.

Yes. The 45 countries of Europe without Russia have about 602 million people and the EU about 452 million, summing the CIA World Factbook's latest estimates, against 341.8 million in the USA on July 1, 2025 (Census Bureau). Per square mile of land that is 273 people in Europe, 287 in the EU and 97 in the USA.

No. In 2025 US GDP was $30.86 trillion and the EU’s $21.30 trillion at market exchange rates, 1.45× as much, according to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook (October 2026). At purchasing power parity the two are close, $30.86 trillion against $29.51 trillion. In the IMF’s series the EU was last larger in dollars in 2011.

It depends on the definition. Europe on this page is 45 countries, leaving out Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The European Union has 27 members, 21 of them on the euro, and the Schengen area has 29 countries, 25 of them EU members.

Russia, if it counts: 6,601,668 sq mi, though the CIA World Factbook places it in North Asia, extending into Eastern Europe west of the Urals. Of the other 45 countries, Ukraine is the largest at 233,032 sq mi; France is 212,935 sq mi without its five overseas regions and 248,573 sq mi with them.

By total area the USA is 17.83× metropolitan France (212,935 sq mi), 27.54× Germany (137,847 sq mi) and 40.37× the UK (94,058 sq mi), on the CIA World Factbook's figures.

Alaska has 570,641 sq mi of land (Census 2010), 1.30× the land of metropolitan France, Germany and the UK combined (440,377 sq mi) and 2.55× the land of Ukraine (223,681 sq mi), the largest country in Europe without Russia.

Yes. Executive Order 14224, signed on March 1, 2025, designated English as the official language of the United States. The European Union has 24 official languages.

Yes. Mercator scales area by 1/cos² of the latitude: about 1.6× at 38°N, the CIA World Factbook's geographic coordinates for the USA, and 2.5× to 2.9× at 51°N to 54°N, its coordinates for Germany, Poland and the UK, so those countries are enlarged more than the contiguous US. The drawings on this page use equal-area projections instead.

Related size comparisons

Open the USA and a European country in the interactive tool
USA vs Russia: Russia is 1.74× the USA (total area).
USA vs China: The USA is 1.02× China (total area).
USA vs Canada: Canada is 1.02× the USA (total area).
UK vs USA: The USA is 40.37× the UK (total area).
Texas vs France: Texas is 1.23× France (land area).
California vs UK: California is 1.67× the UK (land area).
USA vs Africa: Africa is 3.11× the USA (total area).
All size comparisons

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