Two nearly equal mapped footprints
Both values are calculated from complete Natural Earth country geometries with the same spherical-area method.
United States
- Mapped area
- 9,439,446 km²
- Population (2025)
- 341,784,857
- Calculated density
- 36.2 people/km²
China
- Mapped area
- 9,371,247 km²
- Population (2025)
- 1,406,585,000
- Calculated density
- 150.1 people/km²
This result answers a narrow question about EqualAtlas's displayed geometry. Rankings based on land area, total area or different territorial and water rules can legitimately differ.
The short answer
In the current EqualAtlas geometry, the United States is larger than China by approximately 68,199 km², or only 0.73%. That difference is small enough that the chosen definition—not a dramatic geographic gap—often determines which country appears third or fourth in published area rankings.
Why reputable lists disagree
Some rankings compare land area only. Others include inland water, coastal water or different treatments of Alaska, Hawaii and associated territories. Boundary datasets also simplify coastlines at different resolutions.
A ranking can therefore be internally correct under its own definition while disagreeing with another source. The responsible approach is to state the denominator and territorial rule instead of presenting the order as definition-free.
What EqualAtlas measures
EqualAtlas calculates approximately 9,439,446 km² for the United States and 9,371,247 km² for China. The same Natural Earth geometry produces the outline, area number and comparison overlay.
That consistency makes the visual comparison reproducible, but a generalized global dataset is not a cadastral survey. The displayed values deliberately remain labeled as mapped area.
Projection is not the source of the close result
Equal Earth preserves relative area on the page; Mercator does not. Yet the near tie comes from the measured boundary geometries, not from the Equal Earth projection itself. The projection simply lets viewers compare those footprints without latitude-driven area inflation.
Population tells a very different story
The 2025 observations in this dataset list about 1.4B people in China and 341.8M in the United States. Similar geographic area therefore does not imply similar population or density.
Explore the evidence
Sources and further reading
Continue with the Equal Earth projection guide, try the interactive map, or review our methodology.