What is the largest country in the world?

Of the roughly 200 countries in the world, they come in every imaginable size, from tiny city-states to vast continental giants. But when it comes to the single largest country, there is no real contest. One nation stands far above the rest in sheer size, so large that it stretches across a huge portion of the globe. That country is Russia.

Russia covers an area of about 17 million square kilometers. That is an almost difficult number to picture. It means Russia alone makes up more than one-tenth of all the land on Earth. The country that comes in second place, Canada, is not even close, only a little over half of Russia's size. Russia is so vast that it stretches across many time zones, so when it is morning on one side of the country, it is already evening on the other.

Part of what makes Russia so large is that it does not sit on just one continent. It stretches across both Europe and Asia, a feature that makes it a transcontinental country. Most of Russia's land area is actually in Asia, in the huge region known as Siberia, while most of its people live in the European part to the west. This enormous spread gives Russia an incredible range of landscapes, from frozen tundra to forests, mountains, and grassy plains.

One surprising fact is that being the largest country does not mean having the most people. Despite its vast size, much of Russia is very thinly populated. A great deal of its territory lies in the far north, where the climate is extremely cold and harsh, with long, freezing winters. These conditions make large areas difficult to live in or farm. So Russia's huge map is, in many places, a vast and quiet wilderness.

This article was written using information from Wikipedia.