For most of us, perspective is reality no matter what the real deal might be. This is especially true for those who haven't had the opportunity to travel outside the United States and/or have a limited knowledge of other countries. Comparing the number of square miles of a country to the number of square miles of a state may offer a better mental picture of a country thought to be smaller or larger.

If you've studied or traveled through any of the states of the United States, then you have some idea how big or small a state is. Your experience and the following list can help you visualize or get a feel for how big or small a country is when comparing it to the size of a state. Some countries are so small, it's better to compare them to a city in the United States. Where this has been done, you will see both the city and the state. If you don't see an area of the world you're looking for (i.e.: Greenland), it would be because territories, colonies and dependencies were not included in this list.

The areas used are total, meaning bodies of water within the state/country's land area (and/or within the state/country's borders) have been included. Purists might disagree with this way of doing it, but the distance between borders is not less just because one doesn't include the water area (i.e.: Minnesota). The research for this list came from over 25 sources.

Unless otherwise noted, all comparisons to the United States include Alaska and Hawaii. For those who are more familiar with maps showing Alaska much smaller than it really is, a map showing Alaska's real relative size has been provided. If you would prefer a larger view of the first two maps, click on the image. To keep this page active, open the image in a new window.

Before you start, try making a few guesses about the sizes of other countries and then proceed to see how accurate you were.

A
Afghanistan is almost the size of Texas. Albania is about the size of Hawaii. Algeria is not quite four times bigger than Texas. Andorra is the size of Huntsville, Alabama. Angola is about three times the size of California. Antigua and Barbuda is slightly smaller than Huntsville, Alabama. Argentina is one-third the size of the United States. Armenia is slightly bigger than Massachusetts. Australia is approximately the size of the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii). Austria is slightly smaller than Maine. Azerbaijan is slightly larger than South Carolina.