Two continental giants with surprisingly similar sizes
USA is only 28% larger than Australia
🗺️ Compare InteractivelyAustralia is actually larger than the contiguous United States!
| State/Territory | Area (km²) | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Western Australia | 2,645,615 | 34.4% |
| Queensland | 1,851,736 | 24.1% |
| Northern Territory | 1,419,630 | 18.4% |
| South Australia | 1,044,353 | 13.6% |
| New South Wales | 809,952 | 10.5% |
About 70% of Australia is arid or semi-arid outback. Most of the population (85%) lives within 50km of the coast, making Australia effectively much "smaller" in terms of habitable area.
Fun Fact: Western Australia alone (2.65M km²) is larger than Alaska (1.72M km²) and would be the10th largest country if independent!
| State | Area (km²) | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 1,723,337 | 17.5% |
| Texas | 695,662 | 7.1% |
| California | 423,967 | 4.3% |
| Montana | 380,831 | 3.9% |
| New Mexico | 314,917 | 3.2% |
Without Alaska, the USA (8.08M km²) would actually be smaller than Australia! Alaska represents 17.5% of America's total area but only 0.2% of its population.
Comparison: Texas (695K km²) is still smaller than just the Northern Territory of Australia (1.42M km²). Source: US Census Bureau
Australia sits at 10°S to 44°S latitude, placing it mostly in the Southern Hemisphere's low-distortion zone. This means Australia appears fairly close to its true size on Mercator projections.
Distortion Factor: Minimal (0-20% enlargement)
Visual Impact: Appears accurate
Position Effect: Southern location = true representation
The contiguous US (25°N to 49°N) experiences moderate distortion, while Alaska (60°N to 71°N) gets significantly stretched, making the combined USA appear larger relative to Australia than it actually is.
Lower 48 Distortion: 15-60% enlargement
Alaska Distortion: 100-200% enlargement
Visual Impact: Appears disproportionately large
Result: On Mercator maps, the USA appears much larger relative to Australia than it actually is!
Ratio: USA has 12.5× more people despite being only 1.28× larger in area
Source: IMF World Economic Outlook 2023
Both countries are resource superpowers, but with different specializations. Data from US Energy Information Administration
Source: OECD Economic Data
Drag Australia and the USA around our interactive map to see how their sizes compare at different latitudes
Real-time area calculations
Population, economy, geography
Side-by-side analysis