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Line 29: − + − − Both sources (1) ''exclude'' Taiwan from the area of China; (2) ''exclude'' China's coastal and territorial waters. − − However, the CIA World Factbook ''includes'' the United States coastal and territorial waters, while Encyclopædia Britannica ''excludes'' the United States coastal and territorial waters. − − {{ordered list − |1= The ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' lists China as world's third-largest country (after [[Russia]] and [[Canada]]) with a total area of 9,572,900 km<sup>2</sup>,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/China|title=China|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=2017-12-04}}</ref> and the [[United States]] as fourth-largest at 9,525,067 km<sup>2</sup>.<ref name="United States"/> − |2= The [[The World Factbook|CIA World Factbook]] lists China as fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada and the United States) with a total area of 9,596,960 km<sup>2</sup>,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/china/ |title=China |publisher=CIA |access-date=3 July 2016}}</ref> and the United States as the third-largest at 9,833,517 km<sup>2</sup>.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states/|title=United States |publisher=CIA |access-date=3 July 2016}}</ref>}} − − Notably, Encyclopædia Britannica specifies the United States' area (excluding coastal and territorial waters) as 9,525,067 km<sup>2</sup>, which is less than either source's figure given for China's area.<ref name="United States"/> Therefore, while it can be determined that China has a larger area excluding coastal and territorial waters, it is unclear which country has a larger area including coastal and territorial waters. − − ---- − − [[United Nations Statistics Division]]'s figure for the United States is 9,833,517 km<sup>2</sup> and China is 9,596,961 km<sup>2</sup>. These closely match the CIA World Factbook figures and similarly ''include'' coastal and territorial waters for the United States, but ''exclude'' coastal and territorial waters for China. − − ---- − − Further explanation of disputed ranking: The dispute for world's third-largest country arose from the inclusion of coastal and territorial waters for the United States. This discrepancy was deduced from comparing the CIA World Factbook and its previous iterations<ref name="31 Years of CIA World Factbook">{{Cite web|url=http://www.theodora.com/wfb/|title=31 Years of CIA World Factbook|publisher=CIA|access-date=31 January 2014}}</ref> against the information for United States in ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', particularly its footnote section.<ref name="United States">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States|title=United States|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=2017-12-04}}</ref> In sum, according to older versions of the CIA World Factbook (from 1982 to 1996), the U.S. was listed as the world's fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and China) with a total area of 9,372,610 km<sup>2</sup>. However, in the 1997 edition, the U.S. added coastal waters to its total area (increasing it to 9,629,091 km<sup>2</sup>). And then again in 2007, U.S. added territorial water to its total area (increasing it to 9,833,517 km<sup>2</sup>). During this time, China's total area remained unchanged. In other words, ''no'' coastal or territorial water area was added to China's total area figure. The United States has a coastal water area of 109,362 km<sup>2</sup>, and a territorial water area of 195,213 km<sup>2</sup>, for a total of 304,575 km<sup>2</sup> of additional water space. This is larger than entire countries like [[Italy]], [[New Zealand]], and the [[United Kingdom]]. Adding this figure to the U.S. will boost it over China in ranking since China's coastal and territorial water figures are currently unknown (no official publication) and thus cannot be added into China's total area figure.|name="3rd-largest"|group="Note"}}
List of countries and dependencies by area (view source)
Revision as of 20:33, 19 March 2021
, 20:33, 19 March 2021no edit summary
This is a list of the world's countries and their [[dependent territory|dependent territories]] by area, ranked by total area.
This is a list of the world's countries and their [[dependent territory|dependent territories]] by area, ranked by total area.
Entries in this list include, but are not limited to, those in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1 ISO_3166-1] standard, which includes [[list of sovereign states|sovereign states]] and dependent territories. All 193 [[member states of the United Nations]] plus the [[Vatican City]] are given a rank number. [[List of states with limited recognition|Largely unrecognised states]] not in ISO 3166-1 are included in the list in ranked order. The areas of such largely unrecognised [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_(polity) state]]s are in most cases also included in the areas of the more widely recognised states that claim the same territory; see the notes in the "notes" column for each country for clarification.
Entries in this list include, but are not limited to, those in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1 ISO_3166-1] standard, which includes [[list of sovereign states|sovereign states]] and dependent territories. All 193 [[member states of the United Nations]] plus the [[Vatican City]] are given a rank number. [[List of states with limited recognition|Largely unrecognised states]] not in ISO 3166-1 are included in the list in ranked order. The areas of such largely unrecognised [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_(polity) state]s are in most cases also included in the areas of the more widely recognised states that claim the same territory; see the notes in the "notes" column for each country for clarification.
Not included in the list are [[territorial claims in Antarctica|individual country claims]] to parts of the continent of [[Antarctica]], entities such as the [[European Union]]{{#tag:ref|The [[European Union]] is a unique [[supranational union]]. It covers a total area of {{convert|4479968|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}},<ref name="ciastats"/> and would be ranked 7th if it were included (3.0% of world's total land area).|group="Note"}} that have some degree of sovereignty but do not consider themselves to be sovereign countries or dependent territories.
Not included in the list are [[territorial claims in Antarctica|individual country claims]] to parts of the continent of [[Antarctica]], entities such as the [[European Union]]{{#tag:ref|The [[European Union]] is a unique [[supranational union]]. It covers a total area of {{convert|4479968|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}},<ref name="ciastats"/> and would be ranked 7th if it were included (3.0% of world's total land area).|group="Note"}} that have some degree of sovereignty but do not consider themselves to be sovereign countries or dependent territories.
*'''Total area:''' the sum of land and water areas within international boundaries and coastlines.
*'''Total area:''' the sum of land and water areas within international boundaries and coastlines.
*'''Land area:''' the aggregate of all land within international boundaries and coastlines, excluding water area.
*'''Land area:''' the aggregate of all land within international boundaries and coastlines, excluding water area.
*'''Water area:''' the sum of the surface areas of all inland water bodies (lakes, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservoir reservoir]]s, and rivers) within international boundaries and coastlines.<ref>{{cite web|author=Central Intelligence Agency|title=Definitions and notes: Location|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/docs/notesanddefs.html#2144|work=The World Factbook|publisher=Government of the United States|access-date=30 November 2011}}</ref> Coastal [[internal waters]] (some small [[bay]]s) may be included. [[Territorial waters#Territorial sea|Territorial sea]]s are not included unless otherwise noted. Contiguous zones and [[exclusive economic zone]]s are not included.
*'''Water area:''' the sum of the surface areas of all inland water bodies (lakes, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservoir reservoir]s, and rivers) within international boundaries and coastlines.<ref>{{cite web|author=Central Intelligence Agency|title=Definitions and notes: Location|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/docs/notesanddefs.html#2144|work=The World Factbook|publisher=Government of the United States|access-date=30 November 2011}}</ref> Coastal [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_waters internal waters] (some small [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay bay]s) may be included. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_waters#Territorial_sea Territorial waters]s are not included unless otherwise noted. Contiguous zones and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone exclusive economic zone]s are not included.
Data is taken from the [[United Nations Statistics Division]] unless otherwise noted.<ref name="unstats08"/>
Data is taken from the Factbooks of nations, Discord questionaries and official nation pages.
== Map ==
== Map ==
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<!--Before making changes to the US and China ranking and size please read the talk page. Almost all changes get reverted unless a new consensus is reached first. (see page history for proof)-->
<!--Before making changes to the US and China ranking and size please read the talk page. Almost all changes get reverted unless a new consensus is reached first. (see page history for proof)-->
| rowspan="2" | {{nts|3}} or 4 || style="text-align:left;" | {{flaglist|China}} ||style="white-space:nowrap;"|{{convert|9596961|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}} || {{convert|9326410|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}} || {{convert|270550|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}} || 2.82 || style="text-align:left;" |Largest country entirely in Asia, and second-largest country in the world by land area. Excludes [[Taiwan]], [[Sino-Indian border dispute|disputed territories with India]], and [[South China Sea Islands|disputed islands in the South China Sea]]. Figures for total area and water area also exclude all coastal and territorial waters.{{#tag:ref|The following two primary sources (non-mirrored) represent the range (min./max.) of estimates of China's and the United States' total areas.
| rowspan="2" | {{nts|3}} or 4 || style="text-align:left;" | {{flaglist|China}} ||style="white-space:nowrap;"|{{convert|9596961|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}} || {{convert|9326410|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}} || {{convert|270550|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}} || 2.82 || style="text-align:left;" |Largest country entirely in Asia, and second-largest country in the world by land area. Excludes [[Taiwan]], [[Sino-Indian border dispute|disputed territories with India]], and [[South China Sea Islands|disputed islands in the South China Sea]]. Figures for total area and water area also exclude all coastal and territorial waters.
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<!--Before making changes to the US and China ranking and size please read the talk page. Almost all changes get reverted unless a new consensus is reached first. (see page history for proof)-->| style="text-align:left;" | {{flaglist|United States}} || style="white-space:nowrap;"|{{convert|9525067|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}} –<br>{{convert|9833517|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}}<ref name="United States" />|| style="white-space:nowrap;"|{{convert|9147593|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}} –<br>{{convert|9147643|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}}<ref name="United States" />|| style="white-space:nowrap;"|{{convert|377,424|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}} –<br>{{convert|685,924|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}}<ref name="United States" />|| style="white-space:nowrap;"| 3.96–6.97 || style="text-align:left;" | Largest [[English-speaking world|English-speaking]] country and largest in the [[Western Hemisphere]] by land area (second-largest by total area, after [[Canada]]). Secondary figures for total area and water area include all coastal and territorial waters.{{#tag:ref||name="3rd-largest"|group="Note"}}
<!--Before making changes to the US and China ranking and size please read the talk page. Almost all changes get reverted unless a new consensus is reached first. (see page history for proof)-->| style="text-align:left;" | {{flaglist|United States}} || style="white-space:nowrap;"|{{convert|9525067|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}} –<br>{{convert|9833517|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}}<ref name="United States" />|| style="white-space:nowrap;"|{{convert|9147593|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}} –<br>{{convert|9147643|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}}<ref name="United States" />|| style="white-space:nowrap;"|{{convert|377,424|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}} –<br>{{convert|685,924|km2|sqmi|abbr=values|sortable=on}}<ref name="United States" />|| style="white-space:nowrap;"| 3.96–6.97 || style="text-align:left;" | Largest [[English-speaking world|English-speaking]] country and largest in the [[Western Hemisphere]] by land area (second-largest by total area, after [[Canada]]). Secondary figures for total area and water area include all coastal and territorial waters.{{#tag:ref||name="3rd-largest"|group="Note"}}