>>1443252Wikipedia disagrees
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_areaQuote: The following two primary sources (non-mirrored) represent the range (min./max.) of total area for China and the United States. Both sources (1)excludeTaiwan from the area of China; (2)excludeChina's coastal and territorial waters However, the CIA World Factbookincludesthe United States coastal and territorial waters, while Encyclopædia Britannicaexcludesthe United States coastal and territorial waters.
TheEncyclopædia Britannicalists China as world's third-largest country (afterRussiaandCanada) with a total area of 9,572,900 sq km,[6]and theUnited Statesas fourth-largest at 9,525,067 sq km.[7]TheCIA World Factbooklists China as fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada and the United States) with a total area of 9,596,960 sq km,[8]and the United States as the third-largest at 9,833,517 sq km.[9]
Notably, Encyclopædia Britannica specifies the United States' area (excluding coastal and territorial waters) as 9,525,067 sq km, which is less than either source's figure given for China's area.[7]Therefore, while it can be determined that China has a larger area excluding coastal and territorial waters, it is unclear which country has a larger area including coastal and territorial waters.
United Nations Statistics Division's figure for the United States is 9,833,517 sq km and China is 9,596,961 sq km. These closely match the CIA World Factbook figures and similarlyincludecoastal and territorial waters for the United States, butexcludecoastal and territorial waters for China.
Further explanation of disputed ranking: The dispute for world's third-largest country arose from the inclusion of coastal and territorial waters for the United States.
Post too long read more on Wikipedia.
