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List of countries by area
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The list of countries by area is the list of the world's countries and their territories by total area.
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The top 10 largest countries occupy more than half of the world's pure land.
The inputs are realized according to the ISO 3166 standard which includes sovereign states and dependent territories. The 193 Members of the United Nations and the two observer states are numbered. Countries which enjoy limited recognition forming part of the international community and not found in ISO 3166 are also included in the list, but their areas also generally count with the areas of other widely recognized states which claim the following territory.
The areas claimed by individual countries, such as the areas of Antarctica, are not realized as well. The list doesn't include supranational entities such as the European Union.
The entry includes three subfields:
- Total area is the sum of all land and water areas delimited by international boundaries and coastlines.
- Land area is the aggregate of all surfaces delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines, excluding inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers)
- Water area is the sum of the surfaces of all inland water bodies, such as lakes, reservoirs, or rivers, as delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines. Coastal internal waters may be included. Territorial seas are not included unless otherwise noted. Contiguous zones and Exclusive Economic Zones are not included.
Make sure that there are many country size comparisons which would not match all these countries area. The areas that appear in the table for each country are taken from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise noted.