Talk:List of countries and dependencies by area

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Change the "Water in km2 (mi2)" value of the line for Costa Rica from "40 (20)" to "572,877 (311,774)", and also change the value in the column of "Total in km2 (mi2)" from "51,180 (19,760)" to "624,017 (378,829)"

Sources: https://www.ucr.ac.cr/noticias/2019/6/07/costa-rica-92-mas-mar-que-tierra.html https://www.snitcr.go.cr/pdfs/tutoriales_presentaciones/Presentacion_Estado_actual_de_los_Limites_Maritimos_de_CR.pdf Marioaj (talk) 04:07, 4 February 2026 (UTC)

 Not done: At the beginning of the article the measurements used are defined, and for water area, it says, the sum of the surface areas of all inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, and rivers) within international boundaries and coastlines. Your supplied measurements are of Costa Rica's maritime area, not its inland water bodies. DrOrinScrivello (talk) 14:37, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

The US's measurements include coastlines. TJauteur (talk) 17:30, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

On the topic sorta, Portugal keeps changing position and now it's put at 92nd because apparently they're counting internal and territorial waters while other countries only have internal? Not just that but the reference cited says it includes the entirety of the exclusive economic zone.. Why is that even? JereCracker (talk) 17:52, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

Someone recently incorrectly changed the area of Ukraine. By the CIA World Factbook, it has 603,550 sq km as total area, 579,300 sq km land and 24,220 sqm water. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2026-87111-4 (talk) 00:24, 9 February 2026 (UTC)

Can you please include sources for the correct area using Ukraine's own official data? TJauteur (talk) 17:38, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

The CIA World Factbook is no longer a valid source since 2026, the table therefore needs to be reevaluated. My proposal: for countries without territorial issues and reliable public data, their country's official website should be the sole source of truth. For the rest, only claims respected by their neighbours should be included. TJauteur (talk) 17:03, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

The CIA World Factbook is a shame. ~2026-12830-53 (talk) 01:22, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

I don't understand why this article cannot be based upon the official geological surveys of their respective countries. TJauteur (talk) 13:57, 7 March 2026 (UTC)

All sources for territorial areas are biased towards the US (The CIA handbook no longer exists as of 2026). The figures for the US's area include coastal area but, the same is not included for countries like China and Australia: despite it being noted in the definition of the water column that maritime water is not to be included and yet it affects the standings. My proposal: for countries without territorial issues and reliable public data, their country's official website should be the sole source of truth. For the rest, only claims respected by their neighbours should be included. And maritime and EEZ should absolutely be a part of the water column. TJauteur (talk) 17:08, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

Agreed. China should be ranked third and the United States should be ranked fourth. There shouldn't be a dispute about it. ~2026-12830-53 (talk) 01:24, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

I'm reverting this change for now. Existing figures, including China's, remain identical (and thus, I presume, based on) the archived CIA World Factbook, which (presumably) was consistent in calculating area. I have no issue with listing China third in theory, but the way the page appears to be ranked right now would seem to indicate that territorial waters are being taken into account for all countries, contrary to the claim in the lede, making me leery of making a definite change to the 3/4 US/China ranking that has been predominant on this page for several years now. At the very least, I think this change warrants significantly greater discussion before this change is made. InterstellarWhale (talk) 13:28, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

Just as a follow up: https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/2010/geo/state-area.html, cited in the recent change, seems to indicate a larger total size for the United States excluding coastal areas than Britannica used. I'm not saying that one or the other is right, only that a lot of things about this article and its sourcing seem off right now. I think there needs to be more WP:CON before making this change (and possibly a lot of other changes related to sourcing). InterstellarWhale (talk) 13:36, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

I don't understand why that data is not used in the main article? It's clearly an objectively accurate source of information and yet it is omitted entirely from the article and replaced by a defunct source that is the CIA world factbook. Also I don't understand why the calculations are not explicitly defined as: Total Area = (Land + Inland Water). Since we all agree that the US's total area is bigger than China's despite China's land-only area being bigger the US's, I would like to modify the article reflecting that change. Also, I don't believe any citation or footnote is needed as the data is self explanatory because the table is sorted by total area and not land-only area. TJauteur (talk) 15:31, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

Ignore my previous reply, upon further introspection that data includes territorial and coastal waters as a part of the total water area, and removing those two calculations just gives us the current data cited in the article. Therefore, your reversion is based on a correct source but an incorrect conclusion. I will be reverting your change until you are able to objectively prove that that is not the case. Also, the general consensus on the talk page is that the US including maritime waters in its total area and the others excluding it is unfair and inaccurately represents the countries' total areas. TJauteur (talk) 15:49, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

I totally hear you, and I've looked back at the sources for the article again. Both the World Factbook (which, despite no longer being published, remains a perfectly usable archival source for countries whose borders haven't been changed) and the UN give the same 9,833,517 km² figure for the U.S. Nevertheless, I think you are correct that no other country includes territorial waters in its areas. To that end, I think we can agree on the page as you've edited it.

Additionally, at some point in the future this page should consider adding territorial waters (alongside shifting the total area column to be a sum, as you've suggested), as it will improve overall readability and usefulness of this page. Thank you for your thoughtful contributions. (I'm reposting this, as I accidentally deleted this when replying to the edit request below) InterstellarWhale (talk) 19:45, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

Should that stop at territorial waters or also include EEZ? TJauteur (talk) 00:05, 22 March 2026 (UTC)

I have found a great database that includes data Exclusive Economic Zone(EEZ), 24NM, 12NM, Internal, Archipelagic, Extended continental shelf (ECS) and High Seas water areas and maps them to that region's ISO and its sovereign state's ISO. Would this change be an acceptable addition to this article? TJauteur (talk) 02:41, 22 March 2026 (UTC)

• This YouTube video should end all discussions about the "China vs the United States, which one is bigger?" issue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4whvUxeG88

Vic Park (talk) 04:23, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

I do wonder though the extent to which including and excluding coastal areas is a fundamentally political and not factual decision. The Chesapeake Bay is ~67k sq miles, which is more than the difference between the US and China per the table as of 1 May 2026. Is there an analog along the Chinese coast, where there is no question as to the territorial sovereignty of the coastal area? My understanding is that the reason the coastal areas of China are not included is because of competing claims from the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and other states -- whereas most of the US-claimed coastal territories are not disputed (or not disputed to anything close to the extent they are in China). Part2343 (talk) 03:33, 2 May 2026 (UTC)

The territorial disputes between China and other countries aren't the defining factor here. The defining factor is that the United States has added too much "water area" to its total area (i.e. coastal waters and territorial sea), whereas no other country has done the same. All countries listed in the table include only their land areas and internal water areas (i.e. rivers and lakes), and nothing else. The fact is that when comparing apples with apples, even if we exclude all disputed territories involving China (including those disputed territories controlled by China), China is still larger than the United States. Hence, for the United States entry, only those sources that deliberately exclude the area of U.S. coastal waters and territorial sea from its total area are used. Vic Park (talk) 07:22, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

So far the 'water column' has been the biggest source of inaccuracies in this article. Either get rid of it completely and use each country's official figures, or make the definition more precise. Should overseas territories be included? What about Canada and Norway's millions of islands that are effectively the same as any other country's overseas territory. What about territorial claims? Does Russia get to include Crimea, if so then what about China's claim over Hong Kong or Taiwan? What about Australia's 200km EEZ, does that get to be a part of Australia? Would a person get arrested if he were to swim in that EEZ and charged with illegally entering/trying to enter the country. The whole table is a mess. TJauteur (talk) 17:29, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

A country's water area means its internal waters (i.e. rivers, streams, canals, lakes, ponds, and reservoirs). It doesn't include a coastal/island country's coastal waters, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, and extended continental shelf. The shameless United States is the only country on Earth which includes its coastal waters and territorial sea in its water area.

The exclusive economic zone is technically a part of the international waters. A coastal/island country can enjoy some sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone, but the zone itself is not a part of that country's sovereign territory.

The same can be said of the extended continental shelf, except it offers less sovereign rights to its coastal/island country. The exclusive economic zone and the extended continental shelf should never be included as parts of a country's water area. ~2026-12830-53 (talk) 02:39, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

First of all, that's a very arbitrary definition of a country's area. A more logical definition would be as to whether or not a country would object to your presence being on a certain geographical coordinate on the Earth provided you don't have legal rights to enter that country, if so then that point belongs to that country. OR if a legal incident were to occur on a certain coordinate on Earth, which country's judicial body would be responsible for looking over it.

IF you were to stick to your arbitrary definition, for whatever reason, at least swap China and the US's positions for full consistency. Also, mind you that all the official sources listed in this article have a heavy bias towards the US. TJauteur (talk) 14:07, 7 March 2026 (UTC)

Well, legally, you are right, but most countries (and people too) just won't include the coastal waters in their area calculations. People just focus on land areas only. Vic Park (talk) 05:22, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

I have found a great database () that includes data Exclusive Economic Zone(EEZ), 24NM, 12NM, Internal, Archipelagic, Extended continental shelf (ECS) and High Seas water areas and maps them to that region's ISO and its sovereign state's ISO. It is honestly the most objective source of truth for this article as it is based on geographical data. And all the 3 main sources listed in this article do not show their methodology. TJauteur (talk) 02:45, 22 March 2026 (UTC)

@TJauteur: I have again reverted your addition. I don't think we should list "Australia + AAT." There are serveral countries with claims on Antarctica (I don't know why you only added one), not to mention there are may more with uncontrolled claimed territories (which would be really complicated). I would be glad to add Taiwan above Canada beause of their 11,418,174 km² (though somewhat historical) claim, if we were to add them all.  — 魔琴 (Zauber Violino) [ talk contribs ] 04:25, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

Bro, Taiwan and the Republic of China aren't the exact same thing. ~2026-12830-53 (talk) 01:11, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

I agree with you because Taiwan's territory including its border crossing is effectively managed by China itself. Similarly, the only way to visit The Australian Antarctic Territory is via a plane/ship from Tasmania. I'm not familiar with similar procedures concerning other claims in the Antarctic, and that's why only added the AAT. But, my main point was regarding the US's inclusion of water area including coastal dimensions which are plainly ignored in other countries' calculations. TJauteur (talk) 13:55, 7 March 2026 (UTC)

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The Area of Ukraine is generally stated as 603,628 km2 in the sources from United Nations Statistics Division and The CIA World Factbook, and should be placed 45th on the list, not 48th. This corresponds with Ukraines listings on it's own wikipedia page as well. Gaffelspoon (talk) 13:48, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want made. Specifically a link to the data cited would be helpful. ScrubbedFalcon (talk) 17:14, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

This page gives Bahamas as 10,010 km2 of land and only 3,870 km2 of water. Protected Seas Navigator gives marine area as 288,494 km2 which is about 100 fold. Just look at a map and you can see the water data is way short. https://map.navigatormap.org/site-detail?site_id=6032 ~2026-13375-11 (talk) 16:18, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

Most countries only include their internal waters (i.e. rivers, streams, canals, lakes, ponds, and reservoirs) in their water areas. The United States is the only country in the world which includes its coastal waters and territorial sea in its water area. ~2026-12830-53 (talk) 01:44, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

that has since been changed in this article TJauteur (talk) 02:46, 22 March 2026 (UTC)

Do you reckon that we should add a column for archipelagic waters to solve this inconsistency? TJauteur (talk) 02:46, 22 March 2026 (UTC)

The colors on the map showing the area of countries (File:Countries by area.svg) are good, but it's not an equal area projection. Given the topic, that's important, so can someone please create a new map using an equal area projection? Canadachick (talk) 19:17, 7 March 2026 (UTC)

Good point actually, I have no idea, why this particular projection was chosen. TJauteur (talk) 20:56, 22 March 2026 (UTC)

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Fix spelling - inalnd -> inland ~2026-14857-33 (talk) 19:41, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

Done! :) InterstellarWhale (talk) 20:04, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

Spelling the note says Data are from the CIA World Factbook. The UN/Israel Central Bureau of Statistics figure of 22,072 km2 includes the Golan Heights (1,200 km2) and East Jerusalem (70 km2), which are not internationally recognised as part of Israel. Data is from something I don't know how it can be are ~2026-16904-13 (talk) 22:33, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Countries like East Timor, Ivory Coast, Turkey, Cape Verde, Czech Republic have different official names. Then there's also the case of countries that include Republic of, Kingdom of, Federation of, Commonwealth of, etc. Which is the preferred name to be used in this article and why? TJauteur (talk) 01:17, 22 March 2026 (UTC)

Whilst we are at it, why not also include each country/territory's ISO code for better data mapping. Of course for cases where one doesn't exist, those will be left as blank. TJauteur (talk) 02:47, 22 March 2026 (UTC)

Portugal keeps changing position and now it's put at 92nd because apparently they're counting internal and territorial waters while other countries only have internal? Not just that but the reference cited says it includes the entirety of the exclusive economic zone.. Why is that even? JereCracker (talk) 02:01, 6 April 2026 (UTC)

Guys I have been using this list for 6 years and I have found out that in phone version if you touch the name then the list goes into a very specific random order and it stays like that. I want it back because I will put countries in order when I will visit the countries. Can someone bring that bug back? I am stuck at Tajikistan please 😭 ~2026-26525-19 (talk) 20:29, 1 May 2026 (UTC)

When I list the countries in alphabetical order I see Ross Dependency and Cocos Islands are stuck between Finland and France which ruins the alpabetical order. Someone please fix this. ~2026-26716-40 (talk) 13:50, 3 May 2026 (UTC)

 Done, should now be fixed. Declangi (talk) 01:29, 4 May 2026 (UTC)

kindly add real map of India (Bharat) you are showing wrong map. ~2026-28199-70 (talk) 18:58, 10 May 2026 (UTC)

Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh (a.k.a. Southern Tibet) are disputed territories. Vic Park (talk) 12:10, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

‹The template below (Country data Taiwan) is being considered for mergingwith Country data Republic of China. See templates for discussion to help reach a consensus.› Please somebody remove this it ruins the list ~2026-26716-40 (talk) 09:52, 12 May 2026 (UTC)

I don't think it is possible while there is an ongoing discussion about the template at Wikipedia:Templates for discussion. Mellk (talk) 12:13, 12 May 2026 (UTC)

This means that the list now goes 1, 2...133, 134, 134A, 135, 136...194 instead of the usual 195. (The numbers should be normal again when the template's discussion is resolved.) Georgia guy (talk) 12:18, 12 May 2026 (UTC)

Yes, it is not ideal, but perhaps a temporary solution is to use the flag icon instead. Mellk (talk) 12:20, 12 May 2026 (UTC)

At least remove the < from it i don't want to see it above Abkhazia. ~2026-26716-40 (talk) 14:43, 12 May 2026 (UTC)

This is not possible. You can see this at Template:Country data Taiwan. Mellk (talk) 15:20, 12 May 2026 (UTC)

Please fix the numbers so that Taiwan is #135. Georgia guy (talk) 18:17, 16 May 2026 (UTC)

Taiwan is a de facto state. Vic Park (talk) 12:11, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

Ascension Island, Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha should all be separated from each other. All these territories have their own flag own unicode own visa policy and own government. So they all should be separated. ~2026-26716-40 (talk) 00:36, 17 May 2026 (UTC)

They are parts of the Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, which is one of the 14 British Overseas Territories. Vic Park (talk) 12:15, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

The Gambia technically starts with letter "t" but when organising words in alphabetical order in English, word "the" is ignored and even though it starts with "the" The Gambia is still considered as a country that starts with letter G so recommend to list the Gambia as Gambia, The or if you don't want to do that just add the to the Netherlands to make it equal. ~2026-30449-15 (talk) 17:33, 20 May 2026 (UTC)

Fixed Tbhotch^™ (CC BY-SA 4.0) 18:15, 20 May 2026 (UTC)

Please correct the numbers in the table so that Taiwan is #135; it's a country. Georgia guy (talk) 12:14, 25 May 2026 (UTC)

All de facto states are included in the table but unranked. Vic Park (talk) 12:13, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

Vic Park, what's limited about Taiwan?? Do many people not recognize Taiwan as a country?? Georgia guy (talk) 17:00, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

"Country" is an ambiguous term. Sovereign states are countries, de facto states are countries, dependent territories are also countries, and even constituent countries such as Scotland or Wales are countries. For Wikipedia articles, we include all countries and territories in our data tables but only rank those countries recognized by the United Nations as sovereign states.

Taiwan, Kosovo, and Western Sahara etc. are de facto states which have been classified as disputed territories by the United Nations. Hence, they are included but not ranked in Wikipedia data tables. Vic Park (talk) 04:21, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

Vic Park, please show how Taiwan is disputed. Georgia guy (talk) 16:03, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

Can we go back to the old Portugal numbers and ranking? I find it a tad bit ridiculous that Portugal went from 600 km of water area to 60000 just because the government says territorial waters are part of the total area

Might as well update every other country to include those? Like with these stats Nicaragua has way less total water area than Portugal, and Nicaragua is ALL lake

JereCracker (talk) 02:31, 28 May 2026 (UTC)

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== See also ==

• List of countries and dependencies by population density
• List of countries and dependencies by population
• List of largest cities
• List of largest empires
• Lists of political and geographic subdivisions by total area
• List of sovereign states
• Orders of magnitude (area)
• regional lists:
  • List of African countries by area
  • List of Asian countries by area
  • List of European countries by area
  • List of North American countries by area
  • List of South American countries by area

Add the text AFTER the colon to the end of the regional lists: **List of Oceanian countries by area NovaMal505 (talk) 22:22, 7 June 2026 (UTC)

 Done CMD (talk) 02:44, 8 June 2026 (UTC)

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Include ukraine with russsian disputes Ib0855 (talk) 14:44, 13 June 2026 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want made. Please detail the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. CMD (talk) 16:01, 13 June 2026 (UTC)