Geography > Area > Note: Countries Compared
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DEFINITION:
This entry includes three subfields. Total area is the sum of all land and water areas delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines. Land area is the aggregate of all surfaces delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines, excluding inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers). Water area is the sum of the surfaces of all inland water bodies, such as lakes, reservoirs, or rivers, as delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines.
| COUNTRY | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Akrotiri | includes a salt lake and wetlands |
| American Samoa | includes Rose Island and Swains Island |
| Antarctica | fifth-largest continent, following Asia, Africa, North America, and South America, but larger than Australia and the subcontinent of Europe |
| Antigua and Barbuda | includes Redonda, 1.6 sq km |
| Arctic Ocean | includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwest Passage, and other tributary water bodies |
| Ashmore and Cartier Islands | includes Ashmore Reef (West, Middle, and East Islets) and Cartier Island |
| Atlantic Ocean | includes Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, part of the Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico, Labrador Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, almost all of the Scotia Sea, and other tributary water bodies |
| Australia | includes Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island |
| Azerbaijan | includes the exclave of Naxcivan Autonomous Republic and the Nagorno-Karabakh region; the region's autonomy was abolished by Azerbaijani Supreme Soviet on 26 November 1991 |
| Brazil | includes Arquipelago de Fernando de Noronha, Atol das Rocas, Ilha da Trindade, Ilhas Martin Vaz, and Penedos de Sao Pedro e Sao Paulo |
| British Indian Ocean Territory | includes the entire Chagos Archipelago of 55 islands |
| British Virgin Islands | comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands; includes the islands of Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda, Jost van Dyke |
| Chile | includes Easter Island (Isla de Pascua) and Isla Sala y Gomez |
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands | includes the two main islands of West Island and Home Island |
| Colombia | includes Isla de Malpelo, Roncador Cay, and Serrana Bank |
| Coral Sea Islands | includes numerous small islands and reefs scattered over a sea area of about 780,000 sq km, with the Willis Islets the most important |
| Costa Rica | includes Isla del Coco |
| Denmark | includes the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and the rest of metropolitan Denmark (the Jutland Peninsula, and the major islands of Sjaelland and Fyn), but excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland |
| Dhekelia | area surrounds three Cypriot enclaves |
| Ecuador | includes Galapagos Islands |
| Estonia | includes 1,520 islands in the Baltic Sea |
| Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) | includes the two main islands of East and West Falkland and about 200 small islands |
| Federated States of Micronesia | includes Pohnpei (Ponape), Chuuk (Truk) Islands, Yap Islands, and Kosrae (Kosaie) |
| France | the first numbers include the overseas regions of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Reunion |
| French Southern and Antarctic Lands | excludes "Adelie Land" claim of about 500,000 sq km in Antarctica that is not recognized by the US |
| Guernsey | includes Alderney, Guernsey, Herm, Sark, and some other smaller islands |
| Indian Ocean | includes Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Flores Sea, Great Australian Bight, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Java Sea, Mozambique Channel, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Savu Sea, Strait of Malacca, Timor Sea, and other tributary water bodies |
| Italy | includes Sardinia and Sicily |
| Japan | includes Bonin Islands (Ogasawara-gunto), Daito-shoto, Minami-jima, Okino-tori-shima, Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shoto), and Volcano Islands (Kazan-retto) |
| Kiribati | includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands |
| Marshall Islands | the archipelago includes 11,673 sq km of lagoon waters and includes the atolls of Bikini, Enewetak, Kwajalein, Majuro, Rongelap, and Utirik |
| Mauritius | includes Agalega Islands, Cargados Carajos Shoals (Saint Brandon), and Rodrigues |
| Netherlands Antilles | includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin) |
| New Zealand | includes Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, Bounty Islands, Campbell Island, Chatham Islands, and Kermadec Islands |
| Northern Mariana Islands | includes 14 islands including Saipan, Rota, and Tinian |
| Pacific Ocean | includes Bali Sea, Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Tonkin, Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, South China Sea, Tasman Sea, and other tributary water bodies |
| Portugal | includes Azores and Madeira Islands |
| Saint Pierre and Miquelon | includes eight small islands in the Saint Pierre and the Miquelon groups |
| South Africa | includes Prince Edward Islands (Marion Island and Prince Edward Island) |
| South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands | includes Shag Rocks, Black Rock, Clerke Rocks, South Georgia Island, Bird Island, and the South Sandwich Islands, which consist of 11 islands |
| Southern Ocean | includes Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, part of the Drake Passage, Ross Sea, a small part of the Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies |
| Spain | there are two autonomous cities - Ceuta and Melilla - and 17 autonomous communities including Balearic Islands and Canary Islands, and three small Spanish possessions off the coast of Morocco - Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera |
| Spratly Islands | includes 100 or so islets, coral reefs, and sea mounts scattered over an area of nearly 410,000 sq km of the central South China Sea |
| Svalbard | includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island) |
| Syria | includes 1,295 sq km of Israeli-occupied territory |
| Taiwan | includes the Pescadores, Matsu, and Quemoy islands |
| Tanzania | includes the islands of Mafia, Pemba, and Zanzibar |
| United Kingdom | includes Rockall and Shetland Islands |
| United States | includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia |
| Vanuatu | includes more than 80 islands, about 65 of which are inhabited |
| Wallis and Futuna | includes Ile Uvea (Wallis Island), Ile Futuna (Futuna Island), Ile Alofi, and 20 islets |
| West Bank | includes West Bank, Latrun Salient, and the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mt. Scopus; East Jerusalem and Jerusalem No Man's Land are also included only as a means of depicting the entire area occupied by Israel in 1967 |
| Yemen | includes Perim, Socotra, the former Yemen Arab Republic (YAR or North Yemen), and the former People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY or South Yemen) |
