The short answer
Using EqualAtlas's consistent Natural Earth geometry and excluding Antarctica, Russia has the largest mapped country footprint at about 16,879,740 km². Canada follows at about 9,872,124 km², while the United States and China are close enough that boundary, water and geometry definitions matter to their order.
Why different lists disagree
A country-area ranking is not produced by reading pixels from a wall map. It depends on whether inland water is counted, which coastline resolution is used, how overseas territories are assigned and how disputed boundaries are represented.
EqualAtlas measures the same generalized spherical geometry it displays. In this mapped collection, the United States is about 9,439,446 km² and China about 9,371,247 km². Those are internally comparable visualization-derived values, not claims that every statistical authority must publish the same totals.
Projection and area are separate questions
A Mercator map enlarges high-latitude land, but changing the projection does not change the actual boundary dataset. Equal Earth preserves relative area on the page, allowing the visual footprint to agree more closely with the numeric comparison.
Russia and Canada therefore remain genuinely enormous on Equal Earth. What disappears is the additional visual enlargement they receive from northern latitude on Mercator.
How to use the ranking responsibly
Use one defined area method for every row, cite the boundary source and avoid false precision. For legal, cadastral or treaty questions, consult the relevant national or international authority rather than a generalized global map.
Explore the evidence
Sources and further reading
Continue with the Equal Earth projection guide, try the interactive map, or review our methodology.