Largest Subdivisions Mapped
A first-level subdivision or subnational entity is an officially outlined geographical division within a sovereign country. Such a division is designed to improve the responsiveness of a national government to sub-national activities. As such, a division is given some degree of administrative independence, which is considered as a form of limited self-government in some nations.
The names given to such national divisions include cantons, departments, governorates, krays, lands, oblasts, okrugs, prefectures, provinces, regions, republics, states, wilayahs.
The 50 largest subdivisions in the world
The map below displays the fifty largest country subdivisions by area in square kilometers.
The Yakutia (Russia) is the largest subnational entity on the planet by area at 3,083,523 km2 or 1,190,555 mi2. Yakutia is the 8th largest territory in the world. It is approximately the same size as India.
| Subdivision name | Country | Area (km2) | Comparable country by area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yakutia | Russia | 3,083,523 | India |
| State of Western Australia | Australia | 2,645,615 | Kazakhstan |
| Krasnoyarsk Krai | Russia | 2,339,700 | DR Congo |
| Greenland | Kingdom of Denmark | 2,166,086 | Saudi Arabia |
| Territory of Nunavut | Canada | 2,038,722 | Mexico |
| State of Queensland | Australia | 1,851,856 | Sudan |
| State of Alaska | U.S. | 1,717,854 | Iran |
| Xinjiang | China | 1,664,897 | Iran |
| State of Amazonas | Brazil | 1,570,745 | Mongolia |
| Province of Quebec | Canada | 1,542,056 | Mongolia |
| Northern Territory | Australia | 1,419,630 | Mongolia |
| Northwest Territories | Canada | 1,346,106 | Peru |
| State of Pará | Brazil | 1,253,164 | Angola |
| Tibet | China | 1,202,189 | SouthAfrica |
| Inner Mongolia | China | 1,183,000 | Colombia |
| Province of Ontario | Canada | 1,076,395 | Bolivia |
| State of South Australia | Australia | 1,044,353 | Mauritania |
| Province of British Columbia | Canada | 944,735 | Tanzania |
| State of Mato Grosso | Brazil | 906,807 | Venezuela |
| State of New South Wales | Australia | 809,952 | Mozambique |
| Khabarovsk Krai | Russia | 788,600 | Turkey |
| Irkutsk Oblast | Russia | 767,900 | Chile |
| Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug | Russia | 750,300 | Zambia |
| Chukotka Autonomous Okrug | Russia | 737,700 | Zambia |
| Qinghai Province | China | 721,000 | Zambia |
| State of Texas | U.S. | 696,241 | Myanmar |
| Eastern Province | Saudi Arabia | 672,522 | Myanmar |
| Agadez Region | Niger | 667,799 | Somalia |
| Province of Alberta | Canada | 661,848 | Afghanistan |
| Province of Saskatchewan | Canada | 651,900 | Afghanistan |
| Province of Manitoba | Canada | 649,950 | France |
| Arkhangelsk Oblast[16] | Russia | 587,400 | Madagascar |
| State of Minas Gerais | Brazil | 586,522 | Madagascar |
| State of Bahia | Brazil | 564,273 | Kenya |
| Tamanrasset Province | Algeria | 556,200 | Kenya |
| Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug | Russia | 534,800 | Yemen |
| Tombouctou Region | Mali | 496,611 | Turkmenistan |
| Sichuan Province | China | 485,000 | Turkmenistan |
| Yukon Territory | Canada | 482,443 | Turkmenistan |
| Kufra District | Libya | 479,160 | Cameroon |
| Kamchatka Krai | Russia | 472,300 | Cameroon |
| Magadan Oblast | Russia | 461,400 | Papua New Guinea |
| Heilongjiang Province | China | 460,000 | Papua New Guinea |
| Gansu Province | China | 454,000 | Sweden |
| New Valley Governorate | Egypt | 440,098 | Iraq |
| Zabaykalsky Krai | Russia | 431,500 | Iraq |
| Karagandy Region | Kazakhstan | 427,982 | Iraq |
| Adrar Province | Algeria | 424,948 | Iraq |
| State of California | U.S. | 423,967 | Iraq |
| Komi Republic | Russia | 415,900 | Paraguay |
The map below, created by Reddit user darwinpatrick shows Earth’s 12 largest subdivisions.
The 50 most populated subdivisions
The map below shows the most populous nation subdivisions in the world.
Uttar Pradesh (India) is the most-populous nation subdivision in the world, with roughly 231 million residents.
The list below contains the most populous subnational entities global with populations over twenty million and a nation of similar population size.
| Subdivision | Country | Capital | Population | Area (km2) | Density per km2 | Comparable Country by population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uttar Pradesh | India | Lucknow | 230,907,000 | 243,290 | 949.102 | Pakistan |
| Maharashtra | India | Mumbai | 124,437,000 | 307,713 | 404.393 | Japan |
| Bihar | India | Patna | 123,083,000 | 94,163 | 1,307.1 | Japan |
| Guangdong | China | Guangzhou | 115,210,000 | 179,800 | 640.768 | Ethiopia |
| Punjab | Pakistan | Lahore | 110,012,442 | 205,344 | 535.747 | Philippines |
| Shandong | China | Jinan | 100,700,000 | 157,100 | 640.993 | Vietnam |
| West Bengal | India | Kolkata | 98,125,000 | 88,752 | 1,105.6 | Vietnam |
| Henan | China | Zhengzhou | 96,400,000 | 167,000 | 577.246 | Vietnam |
| Madhya Pradesh | India | Bhopal | 84,516,000 | 308,252 | 274.178 | Turkey |
| Sichuan | China | Chengdu | 83,750,000 | 485,000 | 172.68 | Germany |
| Jiangsu | China | Nanjing | 80,700,000 | 102,600 | 786.55 | Germany |
| Rajasthan | India | Jaipur | 79,281,000 | 342,239 | 231.654 | Germany |
| Tamil Nadu | India | Chennai | 76,402,000 | 130,058 | 587.446 | Thailand |
| Hebei | China | Shijiazhuang | 75,920,000 | 188,800 | 402.119 | Thailand |
| Gujarat | India | Gandhinagar | 69,788,000 | 196,024 | 356.018 | Thailand |
| Hunan | China | Changsha | 69,180,000 | 210,000 | 329.429 | Thailand |
| Karnataka | India | Bengaluru | 66,845,000 | 191,791 | 348.53 | United Kingdom |
| Anhui | China | Hefei | 63,660,000 | 140,200 | 454.066 | France |
| Hubei | China | Wuhan | 59,270,000 | 185,900 | 318.827 | South Africa |
| Zhejiang | China | Hangzhou | 58,500,000 | 101,800 | 574.656 | South Africa |
| England | United Kingdom | London | 56,286,961 | 130,279 | 432.049 | Kenya |
| Andhra Pradesh | India | Amaravati | 52,787,000 | 162,975 | 323.896 | South Korea |
| West Java | Indonesia | Bandung | 50,103,300 | 35,378 | 1,416.2 | Colombia |
| Guangxi | China | Nanning | 49,600,000 | 237,600 | 208.754 | Colombia |
| Yunnan | China | Kunming | 48,580,000 | 394,000 | 123.299 | Uganda |
| Sindh | Pakistan | Karachi | 47,886,051 | 140,914 | 339.825 | Uganda |
| Jiangxi | China | Nanchang | 46,660,000 | 166,900 | 279.579 | Spain |
| São Paulo | Brazil | São Paulo | 46,649,132 | 248,223 | 187.932 | Spain |
| Odisha | India | Bhubaneswar | 44,033,000 | 155,707 | 282.794 | Ukraine |
| Liaoning | China | Shenyang | 43,520,000 | 145,900 | 298.286 | Ukraine |
| Dhaka Division | Bangladesh | Dhaka | 42,607,000 | 20,551 | 2,073.2 | Ukraine |
| East Java | Indonesia | Surabaya | 40,156,700 | 47,800 | 840.1 | Afghanistan |
| Fujian | China | Fuzhou | 39,730,000 | 121,400 | 327.265 | Afghanistan |
| California | United States | Sacramento | 39,368,078 | 423,970 | 92.8558 | Afghanistan |
| Shaanxi | China | Xi'an | 38,760,000 | 205,800 | 188.338 | Canada |
| Jharkhand | India | Ranchi | 38,471,000 | 79,714 | 482.61 | Canada |
| Telangana | India | Hyderabad | 37,725,000 | 112,077 | 336.599 | Poland |
| Heilongjiang | China | Harbin | 37,510,000 | 454,800 | 82.4758 | Morocco |
| Shanxi | China | Taiyuan | 37,290,000 | 156,000 | 239.038 | Morocco |
| Guizhou | China | Guiyang | 36,230,000 | 176,200 | 205.619 | Saudi Arabia |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | Pakistan | Peshawar | 35,525,047 | 101,741 | 349.171 | Saudi Arabia |
| Kerala | India | Thiruvananthapuram | 35,489,000 | 38,863 | 913.18 | Saudi Arabia |
| Oromia | Ethiopia | Addis Ababa | 35,467,001 | 286,612 | 123.746 | Saudi Arabia |
| Assam | India | Dispur | 35,043,000 | 78,438 | 446.76 | Saudi Arabia |
| Central Java | Indonesia | Semarang | 34,917,000 | 32,801 | 1,064.5 | Saudi Arabia |
| Chittagong Division | Bangladesh | Chittagong | 34,747,000 | 33,771 | 1,028.9 | Saudi Arabia |
| Chongqing | China | Chongqing | 31,240,000 | 82,403 | 379.11 | Ghana |
| Punjab | India | Chandigarh | 30,339,000 | 50,362 | 602.42 | Yemen |
| Chhattisgarh | India | Raipur | 29,493,000 | 135,191 | 218.158 | Nepal |
| Haryana | India | Chandigarh | 29,483,000 | 44,212 | 666.86 | Nepal |
| Texas | United States | Austin | 29,360,759 | 695,662 | 42.2055 | Nepal |
| Jilin | China | Changchun | 26,910,000 | 187,400 | 143.597 | Côte d'Ivoire |
| Gansu | China | Lanzhou | 26,470,000 | 453,700 | 58.3425 | North Korea |
| Inner Mongolia | China | Hohhot | 25,400,000 | 1,183,000 | 21.47084 | Niger |
| Xinjiang | China | Ürümqi | 25,230,000 | 1,664,900 | 15.15406 | Niger |
| Shanghai | China | Shanghai | 24,280,000 | 6,341 | 3,829 | Taiwan |
| Florida | United States | Tallahassee | 21,733,312 | 170,312 | 127.609 | Sri Lanka |
| Rajshahi Division | Bangladesh | Rajshahi | 21,607,000 | 18,174 | 1,188.9 | Sri Lanka |
| Beijing | China | Beijing | 21,540,000 | 16,411 | 1,312.5 | Sri Lanka |
| Minas Gerais | Brazil | Belo Horizonte | 21,411,923 | 586,528 | 36.5062 | Burkina Faso |
| Amhara | Ethiopia | Bahir Dar | 21,134,988 | 154,709 | 136.611 | Mali |
| Delhi | India | New Delhi | 20,571,000 | 1,484 | 13,860 | Mali |