Canada vs USA size

Compare the outlines

Maps use simplified Natural Earth public-domain outlines at a shared projection scale. Small and distant islands are omitted, including Hawaii in the US drawing. The numerical table includes the full stated territory; the outlines are illustrative, not a measurement of the totals.

The area comparison

Canada is 1.05 times the area of United States on these measurements, a difference of 459,610 km².

Calculation: 9,984,670 ÷ 9,525,060 = 1.0483, rounded to 1.05. This is an area ratio, not a claim that one country’s shape physically fits inside the other.

Which has more land?

The US Census reports 9,147,593 km² of US land; Statistics Canada reports 9,093,507 km² for Canada. On those source snapshots the USA has 54,086 km² more land. Canada’s larger freshwater area changes the order when water is included.

Sources and boundaries

Guide updated October 30, 2026. This compares the whole United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, with Canada. It is not a comparison with the contiguous 48 states. The source snapshots have different publication dates; the figures are not a new 2026 survey.

The game’s fixed US reference is 9,525,067 km², 7 km² above the sum of the rounded Census components used here. These guides show their own reproducible source calculations without changing saved game rounds.

Why do some sources say the USA is 9.83 million km²?

The Census total of 9,833,517 km² also includes coastal and territorial water. Here we add only land, inland water and Great Lakes water to make the water boundary closer to Canada’s land-and-freshwater definition. Always check what a total includes before comparing it.