Which is bigger, USA OR China?

Submitted by Jeremy2011 on April 9, 2026

I’ve been on JetPunk for quite some time and I’ve always seen that in every quiz, irrespective of whichever, recognizes China as bigger than USA.

This is very wrong as the area of USA is 9,833,520 sq.km while the area of China is 9,596,961 km².

Please rectify this mistake.

12 Comments

Level 77

Apr 9, 2026

I've seen some lists do that before as well and I don't get it either, the United States is larger than China, even by just land area as well. I think the only way China is bigger is if you're just measuring the lower 48.

+11

Level 69

Apr 9, 2026

That's not true. China is larger by land area, but including coastal and territorial waters the US is larger.

+10

Level 87

Apr 9, 2026

From my understanding, it changes depending on whether you count water area. Without it, China is larger, but with it, the US is larger. It's very close either way, but personally I think that China's argument is a tad stronger.

Level 78

Apr 9, 2026

I can't find the source right now, but I think it stated that USA has slightly bigger area when territories are included, but slightly smaller when 50 states and D.C. are included. Total area (land + water) included on Wikipedia's list is still larger for China.

Level 82

Apr 9, 2026

Generally JetPunk does not include territories in these measurements (e.g. Denmark with Greenland)

Level 72

Apr 9, 2026

I think it changes a bit depending on who you ask anyways.

Level 39

Apr 9, 2026

The size of countries is a materialistic mesaure intend of taking you away from the things that matter hence starting this argument is not a good idea. However to provide my input. China and USA have combined to form one large country so they are both together the largest country in the world

Level 61

Apr 9, 2026

China (without Taiwan): 3,695,834 sq miles

United States: 3,794,100 sq miles

This includes inland water and excludes territorial waters. The US, by this explanation, is bigger than China.

Level 61

Apr 9, 2026

This was gotten all from my own research so I don't know how accurate it is. I do say the the US is bigger than China tho.

Level 46

Apr 11, 2026

All right, let’s vote. Who thinks China is bigger, can type in a capital C and for US a capital U

Level 46