This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
When you look at the world map with Mercator projection, it may seem that Greenland is almost as big as Africa. But in reality, Africa is 14 times larger.
Africa is much larger than almost everyone assumes! The area of Africa is almost twice the area of Russia.
Africa is the second-largest and second-most-populous continent on our planet. About 30.3 million km2 (11.7 mln sq mi), including adjacent islands, covers 6% of Africa and is the second-largest and second-most-populous continent on our planet. About 30.3 million km2 (11.7 mln sq mi), including adjacent islands, covers 6% of Earth’s total surface area and 20.4% of its total land area. With 1.2 billion people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the world’s human population.
Top 15 biggest countries in the world compared to Africa
Country
Total Area, million sq km
Total Area, million sq mi
% of Africa
Russia
17.10
6.6
56.31
Canada
9.98
3.86
32.86
China
9.71
3.75
31.97
United States
9.37
3.62
30.85
Brazil
8.52
3.29
28.05
Australia
7.69
2.96
25.32
India
3.29
1.27
10.83
Argentina
2.78
1.07
9.15
Kazakhstan
2.72
1.05
8.96
Algeria
2.38
0.92
7.84
DR Congo
2.34
0.91
7.70
Greenland
2.17
0.84
7.15
Saudi Arabia
2.15
0.83
7.08
Mexico
1.96
0.76
6.45
Indonesia
1.9
0.74
6.26
Algeria has been the largest nation in Africa and the Arab world.
