Russia vs. Contiguous U.S.: Size Comparison

Russia's land area (~17.1 million km²) is approximately 2.1 times larger than the contiguous United States (~8.1 million km²).

Visualizing the Difference

• Russia spans 11 time zones; the contiguous U.S. spans 4.
• Russia's east-west extent (~9,000 km) exceeds the U.S. diagonal (Florida to Washington, ~4,500 km).
• You could fit the contiguous U.S. inside Russia with room for India and Argentina.

Caveats

• Alaska adds ~1.7 million km², making total U.S. ~9.8 million km²—still only ~57% of Russia.
• Russia's population (~146M) is less than half the U.S. (~335M), concentrated west of the Urals.
• Much of Russia's area is permafrost, boreal forest, or tundra with low habitability.

Why It Matters

Size shapes geopolitics: Russia's vastness provides strategic depth and resource wealth (energy, minerals) but challenges governance, infrastructure, and defense. The U.S.'s compact, temperate, resource-rich contiguous territory facilitated economic integration and power projection.