10 Largest Countries in The World
25.03.2022
10. Algeria (2.3 million km2) : Africa’s largest country is the world’s 10th largest. Algeria gained independence from France in 1962 after a brutal war. Over 80% of the country is taken up by the Sahara desert. The main languages are Arabic, French and Berber.
9. Kazakhstan (2.7 million km2) : Many foreigners don’t know much about this country other than from Borat , the controversial fake ambassador played by Sacha Baron Cohen. Kazakhstan separated from the USSR in 1991 but is still one of the largest countries in the world. Horses are a very important part of traditional Kazakh nomadic culture.
8. Argentina (2.8 million km2) : South America’s second largest country is 8th on this list. Argentina stretches from Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego in the south, known as ‘the end of the Earth’, up the huge Andes mountain range to the pampas savannas and capital Buenos Aires in the north.
7. India (3.2 million km2) : The country with the second largest population on Earth crams its 1 billion people into the 7th largest area. There are over 1000 people per square mile in India, compared to just 8 per square mile in Russia. India makes up the last of the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China), which are expanding their global power and influence.
6. Australia (7.7 million km2) : Isolated over there on the ‘other side of the world’, Australia is the largest country located entirely in the Southern hemisphere. Famous for its weird and wacky wildlife, most of the population live in coastal cities, surrounding a vast uninhabited interior, known as the ‘outback’.
5. Brazil (8.5 million km2) : Home to the mighty Amazon river and rainforest, the most biodiverse region of the planet, Brazil is the 5th largest nation. It covers almost half of South America, and 6% of the world’s total landmass.
4. The United States of America (9.3 million km2) : The richest country on Earth by total GDP and considering itself the global superpower, the USA is the 4th largest country in the world, and it has the 3rd largest population. The largest state is Alaska, while the smallest is the tiny Rhode Island.
3. China (9.7 million km2) : China has the world’s largest population, but is only the 3rd biggest country on Earth by size. It stretches from the Pacific megacities of Shanghai and Beijing in the east to the virtually untouched Tibetan plains in the west.
2. Canada (9.9 million km2) : Another country with a huge amount of land above the Arctic Circle, Canada is the second biggest country on Earth, but it is almost half the size of Russia. It is even more sparsely populated than Russia, with most of the population concentrated on the border with the USA.
1. Russia (17 million km2) : Russia is still by far the largest country in the world, even after losing much of its territory during the break up of the former USSR. It covers around 11% of the Earth’s total landmass. However, the population is all concentrated towards the west of Russia, and large swathes of Siberia remain untouched by humans.