Canada vs USA, LANDMASS in wikipedia

[solareclipse64236]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_area

I don't understand how the USA is right below Canada in terms of land mass

[1715684840]

1715684840

[dree12]

Much of Canada's area is internal waters (due to the sheer amount and size of it's lakes), so China and the United States are bigger than it when measuring land area. It's rather confusing because the three are just about the same size anyways, so the comparison is rather meaningless.

By land + water area, Russia is first followed by Canada and then the US and China virtually tied. By land area only, Russia is followed by China and then the US and Canada virtually tied. I've grown tired of the heated disputes around area of countries, and so I consider the three (US, China, Canada) virtually identical in area.

[solareclipse64236]

i disagree based on what i just saw from google maps

[koin]

i disagree based on what i just saw from google maps

google maps uses mercator projection which distorts distances more and more as you go further from the equator.  that's what happens when you try to plot a sphere on a flat surface: http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/maps/A2ygEJ5eG-o

[benjamindees]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alaska_area_compared_to_conterminous_US.svg

This should help.