The CIA World Factbook Edition 2025, the latest with this field Geography

Area - rankings In 7 editions of 36.

Area - rankings was published in 7 editions of the CIA World Factbook, from 2019 to 2025. The 2025 edition carries it in 1 entry, in its Geography section. Every entry is shown as that edition published it.

entries in the 2025 edition
1
the first edition with it
2019
the latest edition with it
2025

Published as “Area - rankings” (2021 to 2025) and “Area Rankings” (2019 to 2020).

the entry has the field in that editionnot in that editionthe open editionEach entry below ends in its editions with Area - rankings, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down; choose one in a row to read that edition’s text there.

2025

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World

1 entry

World

top fifteen World Factbook entities ranked by size:
  • Pacific Ocean 155,557,000 sq km;
  • Atlantic Ocean 76,762,000 sq km;
  • Indian Ocean 68,556,000 sq km;
  • Southern Ocean 20,327,000 sq km;
  • Russia 17,098,242 sq km;
  • Antarctica 14,200,000 sq km;
  • Arctic Ocean 14,056,000 sq km;
  • Canada 9,984,670 sq km;
  • United States 9,826,675 sq km;
  • China 9,596,960 sq km;
  • Brazil 8,515,770 sq km;
  • Australia 7,741,220 sq km;
  • European Union 4,324,782 sq km;
  • India 3,287,263 sq km;
  • Argentina 2,780,400 sq km
top ten largest water bodies:
  • Pacific Ocean 155,557,000 sq km;
  • Atlantic Ocean 76,762,000 sq km;
  • Indian Ocean 68,556,000 sq km;
  • Southern Ocean 20,327,000 sq km;
  • Arctic Ocean 14,056,000 sq km;
  • Coral Sea 4,184,100 sq km;
  • South China Sea 3,595,900 sq km;
  • Caribbean Sea 2,834,000 sq km;
  • Bering Sea 2,520,000 sq km;
  • Mediterranean Sea 2,469,000 sq km
top ten largest landmasses:
  • Asia 44,568,500 sq km;
  • Africa 30,065,000 sq km;
  • North America 24,473,000 sq km;
  • South America 17,819,000 sq km;
  • Antarctica 14,200,000 sq km;
  • Europe 9,948,000 sq km;
  • Australia 7,741,220 sq km;
  • Greenland 2,166,086 sq km;
  • New Guinea 785,753 sq km;
  • Borneo 751,929 sq km
top ten largest islands:
  • Greenland 2,166,086 sq km;
  • New Guinea (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea) 785,753 sq km;
  • Borneo (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia) 751,929 sq km;
  • Madagascar 587,713 sq km;
  • Baffin Island (Canada) 507,451 sq km;
  • Sumatra (Indonesia) 472,784 sq km;
  • Honshu (Japan) 227,963 sq km;
  • Victoria Island (Canada) 217,291 sq km;
  • Great Britain (United Kingdom) 209,331 sq km;
  • Ellesmere Island (Canada) 196,236 sq km
  • top ten longest* mountain ranges (land-based): Andes (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina) 7,000 km;
  • Rocky Mountains (Canada, US) 4,830 km;
  • Great Dividing Range (Australia) 3,700 km;
  • Transantarctic Mountains (Antarctica) 3,500 km;
  • Kunlun Mountains (China) 3,000 km;
  • Ural Mountains (Russia, Kazakhstan) 2,640 km;
  • Atlas Mountains (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) 2,500 km;
  • Appalachian Mountains (Canada, US) 2,400 km;
  • Himalayas (Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, China, Nepal, Bhutan) 2,300 km;
  • Altai Mountains (Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia) 2,000 km

*lengths are approximate; if oceans are included, the Mid-Ocean Ridge is by far the longest mountain range at 40,389 km

  • top ten largest forested countries (sq km and percent of land): Russia 8,149,310 (49.8%);
  • Brazil 4,935,380 (58.9%);
  • Canada 3,470,690 (38.2%);
  • United States 3,103,700 (33.9%);
  • China 2,098,640 (22.3%);
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,522,670 (67.2%);
  • Australia 1,250,590 (16.3%);
  • Indonesia 903,250 (49.9%);
  • Peru 738,054 (57.7%);
  • India 708,600 (23.8%) (2016 est.)

top ten most densely forested countries (percent of land): Suriname (98.3%), Federated States of Micronesia (91.9%), Gabon (90%), Seychelles (88.4%), Palau (87.6%), Guyana (83.9%), Laos (82.1%), Solomon Islands (77.9%), Papua New Guinea (74.1%), Finland (73.1%) (2016 est.)

  • top ten largest (non-polar*) deserts: Sahara (Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan, Tunisia) 9,200,000 sq km;
  • Arabian (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Yemen) 2,330,000 sq km;
  • Gobi (China, Mongolia) 1,295,000 sq km;
  • Kalahari (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa) 900,000 sq km;
  • Patagonian (Argentina) 673,000 sq km;
  • Syrian (Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia) 500,000 sq km;
  • Chihuahuan (Mexico) 362,000 sq km;
  • Kara-Kum (Turkmenistan) 350,000 sq km;
  • Great Victoria (Australia) 348,750 sq km;
  • Great Basin (United States) 343,169 sq km

*if the two polar deserts were included, they would rank first and second: Antarctic Desert 14,200,000 sq km and Arctic Desert 13,900,000 sq km

ten smallest independent countries:
  • Holy See (Vatican City) 0.44 sq km;
  • Monaco 2 sq km;
  • Nauru 21 sq km;
  • Tuvalu 26 sq km;
  • San Marino 61 sq km;
  • Liechtenstein 160 sq km;
  • Marshall Islands 181 sq km;
  • Cook Islands 236 sq km;
  • Niue 260 sq km;
  • Saint Kitts and Nevis 261 sq km

Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook 2025, “Area - rankings”, all entries. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/fields/area-rankings.

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