What are the largest countries in the world? 

The largest countries in the world are not necessarily the world’s most populated countries as well. Although they have larger landmasses, extremes of climate and terrain in countries like Russia and Canada limit human habitation over larger parts of their territory. The three most populous countries in the world, China, the US, and India ranked fourth, third, and seventh.

Total Area = land area + water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, and rivers)

Key points:

• The largest country in the world is Russia with a total area of 17,098,242 Km² (6,601,665 mi²) and a land area of 16,376,870 Km² (6,323,142 mi²), equivalent to 11% of the total world’s landmass of 148,940,000 Km² (57,510,000 square miles).
• The three smallest countries in the world are Vatican City, an enclave within Rome, Italy. Monaco, a principality at the Mediterranean coast and an enclave within Southern France, and Nauru, an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.

Top 7 Largest Countries in the World (by total area km²):

Rank	Country	Area	% of Earth’s Area
1	Russia	17,098,242 km²	11.52%
2	Canada	9,984,670 km²	6.73%
3	China	9,706,961 km²	6.54%
4	United States	9,372,610 km²	6.31%
5	Brazil	8,515,767 km²	5.74%
6	Australia	7,692,024 km²	5.18%
7	India	3,287,590 km²	2.21%

Here is a detail of the Top 7 Largest Countries on Earth by area:

1. Russia

In terms of land area, Russia is the largest country in the world. It is a transcontinental country, extending halfway around the northern hemisphere and covering much of eastern and northeastern Europe and the whole of northern Asia. Russia is so huge that it is located across 9 time zones.

2. Canada:

Canada is the world’s second-largest country. Without its lakes, Canada would be smaller than the USA. Canada is over 8,850 km (5,500 miles) wide, from Atlantic to Pacific coasts.

3. The United States

The United States of America is the third-largest country by size in the world. It has some of the world’s largest lakes, deepest canyons, mightiest rivers, and most populous cities.

4. China

China is the 3rd largest country by area. It has the largest population in the world, with over 1.357 billion people as of Feb 2016. Despite its size, all of China is in the one-time zone.

5. Brazil

Brazil is the largest country in South America. Population-wise, it’s the 5th largest in the world.

6. Australia

Australia is the world’s 6th largest country by area. Due to its large size and isolation from the rest of the world, Australia is sometimes known as the ‘island continent. While it’s huge, the population is only 22.6 million.

7. India 

India is the seventh-largest country by total area, it is bordered by the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, China, Nepal, and Pakistan.