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Which are the largest countries in the world?

With an area of 510.1 million km², more than 7 billion people live on planet Earth, spread over 5 continents, which in turn are divided into smaller and larger nations.

But what are the ten largest countries in the world in terms of area?

Below there is a list of countries in the world in descending order of area. The values are expressed in km².

The surfaces also include the water masses of the mainland (lakes and rivers).

Browse the gallery to find out which are the largest countries in the world in terms of surface.

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The largest countries in the world
Below is a list of countries in the world in ascending order of surface. The values are expressed in square kilometers.
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Algeria
Area of 2,381,741 square kilometers. Algeria is a country in North Africa, belonging to the Maghreb, largely occupied by the Sahara desert. The capital, Algiers, is eccentric compared to the totality of the territory and is located in the far north. Its name also identifies that of the entire country.
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Kazakistan
Area of 2,724,921 square kilometers with 0.475% water. Kazakistan is a transcontinental state straddling Asia and Europe. Its capital is Astana. It is bordered to the east by China, to the west and north by Russia, and to the south by Kirghizistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. It is the largest country in the world without access to the sea.
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Argentina
Area of 2,780,272 square kilometers with 1.10% water. Argentina is a federal republic, located in the southern part of South America. Its territory is divided into 24 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires, which is the capital of the nation and seat of the federal government, in whose metropolitan area a third of the country's population is concentrated.
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India
Area of 3,287,263 square kilometers with 9.6% water. India is a federal state in South Asia, with its capital  New Delhi. It is washed by the Indian Ocean to the south, the Arabian Sea to the west and the Bay of Bengal to the east, has a coastline that winds for 7517 km, and borders the Pakistan to the west,[14] China, Nepal and Bhutan to the northeast, Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east.
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Australia
Area of 7,703,429 square kilometers with 0.9% water. Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is the largest territory in Oceania. It has a population of over 25 million inhabitants, almost entirely resident on the coasts. Its capital is Canberra, while the most populated city is Sydney, followed by Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
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Brazil
Area of 8,547,393 square kilometers with 0.72% water. Brazil, officially the Federal Republic of Brazil, is a federal republic in South America. It is bordered to the north by the overseas French department of Guyana French, Suriname, Guyana and Venezuela, to the northwest by Colombia, to the west by Peru and Bolivia, to the southwest by Paraguay and Argentina, and to the south by Uruguay.
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China
Area of 9,597,000 square kilometers with 3.10% water. China is a country in East Asia. China's landscape is vast and diverse: it ranges from the forest-steppes and deserts of the Gobi and Taklamakan in the arid north to the subtropical and humid forests of the south. TheHimalaya, Karakorum, Pamir and Tian Shan are the mountain ranges that separate southern China from Central Asia.
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United States
Area of 9,834,000 square kilometers with 6.76% water. The United States is a federal republic of North America consisting of fifty states and a federal district. The forty-eight contiguous states and the District of Washington (the federal capital) occupy the central strip of North America between Canada and Mexico and are washed by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
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Canada
Area of 9,984,673 square kilometers with 8.92% water. Canada is a North American country bordered by the Atlantic to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Greenland (Kingdom of Denmark) and the United States of America: the continental ones to the south, largely along the line of the 49th parallel north, and with the State of Alaska to the north-west almost entirely along the 141st meridian West, it is the longest land border between two states in the world (8891 kilometers).
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Russia
Area of 17,125,306 square kilometers with 11.5% water. Russia is a transcontinental state that extends for a quarter in Europe and for everything else in Asia, in 2021 it had about 147.2 million inhabitants.
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