The third-largest nation on earth, the United States takes up little under 40% of the North American continent.
There are 50 states that make up the US territory; 48 of them are located in what is known as the “contiguous United States,” a peninsula-like region in the middle of North America; one, Alaska; and one, Hawaii, a tropical archipelago in the Pacific Ocean.
The United States is made up of the states, which are its fundamental political divisions.
Colonial charters had a key role in defining the 13 initial states’ borders, which changed frequently over the course of history. Congress set the boundaries of numerous more state territories. The size of the states west of the Mississippi was determined by relatively arbitrary straight lines that were drawn along the lines of longitude and latitude.
The size of US states can be compared to that of nation-states in the Old World. For instance, the third-largest US state of California is bigger than Germany but smaller than France; Texas is three times larger than the UK; and Massachusetts is smaller than Switzerland by two-thirds.
The 50 US States are listed below in order of size of area. United States states are listed from largest to smallest.
List of states and territories, ordered by total area in square miles and square kilometres (km2).
US State Flags:
Click on a state flag symbol to show a larger version of the flag and a flag description.
No.
State
km²
sq mi
Census Region
Notes
30
Alabama
135,767
52,420
East South Central
The “Heart of Dixie” is the largest state in East South Central region.
1
Alaska
1,723,336
665,384
Pacific
The largest US state, Alaska, shares no borders with any other US state. The least densely populated US state, “The Last Frontier,” is about three times the size of France.
6
Arizona
295,233
113,990
Mountain
Home to the Grand Canyon. Arizona is about three times the size of South Korea.
29
Arkansas
137,730
53,178
West South Central
By comparison, Arkansas is slightly larger than Greece.
3
California
423,968
163,695
Pacific
one of three states on the US mainland with a Pacific Ocean coastline, and the largest state in the Pacific region. California’s size dwarfs Austria by a factor of five.
8
Colorado
269,602
104,094
Mountain
One of the two states with boundaries that appear to form a rectangle and are straight. Colorado is nearly the size of New Zealand.
48
Connecticut
14,356
5,543
New England
One of the six New England states, but nine times smaller than England.
49
Delaware
6,446
2,489
South Atlantic
One of the original thirteen states.
22
Florida
170,312
65,758
South Atlantic
largest state in the United States’ South Atlantic area. Spain is around one-third the size of Florida.
24
Georgia
153,910
59,425
South Atlantic
One of the original thirteen states.
43
Hawaii
28,313
10,932
Pacific
The only US state located on an archipelago.
14
Idaho
216,443
83,569
Mountain
By comparison, Idaho is slightly smaller than Great Britain (island).
25
Illinois
149,994
57,913
East North Central
By comparison, Illinois is about half the size of Italy.
38
Indiana
94,327
36,420
East North Central
Indiana is about the size of Hungary.
26
Iowa
145,744
56,272
West North Central
By comparison, Iowa is about twice the size of Ireland.
15
Kansas
213,099
82,278
West North Central
Only the northeast corner of Kansas is cut off by the Missouri River; the size of Kansas is determined by longitude and latitude.
37
Kentucky
104,656
40,408
East South Central
The Bluegrass State would fit nearly seven times into Texas and is roughly one-third the size of Poland.
31
Louisiana
135,658
52,378
West South Central
The Pelican State is somewhat larger than Greece, or about half the size of Colorado.
39
Maine
91,634
35,380
New England
Largest state in New England. About twice the size of Estonia.
42
Maryland
32,131
12,406
South Atlantic
Maryland is slightly larger than Belgium, about 26% of its area is water.
44
Massachusetts
27,335
10,554
New England
The most populated state in the New England region and a little bit smaller than Belgium is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
11
Michigan
250,485
96,713
East North Central
Largest state in East North Central, but 40,175 sq mi (104,052 km²) are water area, 41.5% of the state is liquid.
12
Minnesota
225,163
86,936
West North Central
Largest state in West North Central, has a border with Canada.
32
Mississippi
125,438
48,432
East South Central
The Mississippi River, the second-longest river in the US, inspired the naming of Mississippi.
21
Missouri
180,540
69,707
West North Central
The Missouri River, the nation’s longest river, inspired the naming of Missouri.
4
Montana
380,832
147,040
Mountain
The Mountain Region’s largest state is Montana. Japan is a little bigger than Montana.
16
Nebraska
200,330
77,348
West North Central
Nebraska, which is almost twice the area of Iceland, is located in the centre of the US to the west of the Missouri River.
7
Nevada
286,380
110,572
Mountain
Nevada, the Battle Born State, is about three times the size of Portugal and would fit into Texas almost 2.5 times.
46
New Hampshire
24,214
9,349
New England
The Granite State is slightly larger than one-third of Ireland and would fit into Texas 29 times.
47
New Jersey
22,590
8,722
Middle Atlantic
The US state with the highest density of people is New Jersey. In comparison, it is around the same size as Israel and has a similar population.
5
New Mexico
314,917
121,590
Mountain
The fifth-largest US state, New Mexico is roughly the size of Poland. At 2,194 m (7,198 ft) above sea level, Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, is the highest capital city in the country.
27
New York
141,297
54,555
Middle Atlantic
in the Middle Atlantic region, the biggest state. The “Empire State” would fit within Texas nearly five times and is a little bigger than Greece.
28
North Carolina
139,390
53,819
South Atlantic
North Carolina is around five times the size of Texas and is roughly twice the size of Ireland.
19
North Dakota
183,107
70,698
West North Central
Although it is eight times larger than New Jersey, North Dakota is only slightly smaller than half the size of Germany.
34
Ohio
116,096
44,825
East North Central
The Buckeye State is slightly larger than Cuba and would fit six times inside Texas.
20
Oklahoma
181,038
69,899
West South Central
Oklahoma is the size of Cambodia, and it would fit almost four times in Texas.
9
Oregon
254,800
98,379
Pacific
one of the three states with a Pacific Ocean coastline on the continent of America. Despite having only around 6% of the UK’s population, Oregon is only slightly larger than the UK.
33
Pennsylvania
119,279
46,054
Middle Atlantic
Pennsylvania, sometimes referred to as “The Keystone State,” is roughly equal to the size of the UK.
50
Rhode Island
3,999
1,544
New England
Rhode Island is the smallest U.S. state. It would fit more than 40 times in England.
40
South Carolina
82,931
32,020
South Atlantic
South Carolina is about as big as the United Arab Emirates.
17
South Dakota
199,730
77,116
West North Central
South Dakota is two-thirds the size of Italy.
36
Tennessee
109,152
42,144
East South Central
Tennessee is about the size of Cuba.
2
Texas
695,660
268,596
West South Central
The largest state on the U.S. mainland and the second largest in the United States.
13
Utah
219,882
84,897
Mountain
The Beehive State is about twice as big as Bulgaria.
45
Vermont
24,905
9,616
New England
The state in the northeastern US is about half the size of Slovakia.
35
Virginia
110,787
42,775
South Atlantic
Virginia is about the size of Bulgaria.
18
Washington
184,661
71,298
Pacific
Washington is one of thirteen states that share a border with Canada and one of three states on the US mainland that have a coastline on the Pacific Ocean.
41
West Virginia
62,755
24,230
South Atlantic
The only state wholly included within the Appalachian Mountains is The Mountain State. Scotland is a little smaller than West Virginia.
23
Wisconsin
169,634
65,496
East North Central
The Badger State is about twice the size of Austria.
10
Wyoming
253,334
97,813
Mountain
The lines at 104 and 111 degrees west longitude and 41 and 45 degrees north latitude divide Wyoming, which is half the size of Spain. It is the second-least populated state in the US.
Country/
Territory
Area
(km²)
Area
(sq mi)
Territory
Notes
United States
Contiguous United States
9,833,516
8,081,868
3,796,742
3,120,428
North America
The third-largest nation in the globe is the United States. Its size is more than twice as large as the European Union or almost half that of Russia. There are 50 states and one capital district in the federal republic (District of Columbia).
District of Columbia
177
68.34
South Atlantic
Capital district of the United States, generally known as Washington D.C.
Territories of the United States
American Samoa
1,505
581
Polynesia
American Samoa has a land area of 198 km² (76 sq mi)
Guam
1,476
570
Micronesia
Guam has a land area of 543 km² (209 sq mi)
Northern Mariana Islands
5,115
1,975
Micronesia
Northern Mariana Islands have a land area of 472 km² (182 sq mi)
Puerto Rico
13,792
5,325
Caribbean
Puerto Rico has a land area of 8,867 km² (3,424 sq mi)
US Virgin Islands
1,898
733
Caribbean
US Virgin Islands have a land area of 348 km² (134 sq mi)
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