Out of the seven continents in the world, there are 195 countries making up these continents. Have you ever wondered which of the 195 countries are the largest countries based on total land area? From Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, Europe and Antarctica, below are the top seven largest countries in 2023 based on total land area according to BBC Science Focus.
1. RUSSIA: Russia is ranked the largest country in the world with a huge surface area of about 17,098,242 km²(6,601,668.1 mi²). No country comes close to Russia in terms of surface area.
2. CANADA: Canada located in the North American continent is ranked second on the chart as it is estimated to have a total surface area of about 9,984,670 km² (3,855,102.6 mi²).
3. USA: Still in the North American continent, the United States occupies the third spot with an estimated surface area of about 9,833,517 km²(3,796,742.1 mi²) slightly behind its neighbor Canada.
4. CHINA: China is the first Asian country to make it to the list and it occupies the fourth spot, accounting for about 9,596,960 km²(3,705,407 mi²) of the world’s surface area.
5. BRAZIL: Brazil is the first South American country to make it to the list as it sits comfortably at number 5 with a surface area of about 8,515,770 km²(3,287,957.1 mi²).
6. AUSTRALIA: The only country that is a continent and a country on its own is Australia and having one of the coolest touristic and wildest wildlife reserves among others, is sitting surprisingly at number six with a surface area of about 7,741,220 km² (2,988,901.7 mi²).
7. INDIA: India is the second Asian country to make an entry into this list after China and it is estimated to have approximately 3,287,263 km² (1269219.3 mi²) as its surface area.
No country from Africa made it to the top seven list.
