10 Countries With Largest Water Area

When we picture the largest countries, we usually think of land. But some nations command enormous areas of water too, in the form of lakes, rivers and reservoirs inside their borders. The figures below count inland water only; territorial seas are not included. Here are ten of the countries with the largest water area, and what fills it.

1. Canada – 891,163 km2 (344,080 sq mi)

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The world’s second-largest country also holds the most inland water, covering nearly 9% of its territory. Its share of the five Great Lakes, plus countless northern lakes, puts it far ahead of any other nation.

2. Russia – 720,500 km2 (278,200 sq mi)

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Water makes up only about 4% of Russia, but in the largest country on Earth that is still an enormous area. It includes Lake Baikal, the deepest and oldest lake in the world, which alone holds about a fifth of the planet’s unfrozen fresh water.

3. United States – 470,131 km2 (181,519 sq mi)

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Around 2% of the United States is water, much of it from the Great Lakes it shares with Canada, along with major rivers like the Mississippi and thousands of reservoirs.

4. India – 314,070 km2 (121,260 sq mi)

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Nearly 10% of India is water, a high proportion driven by its great river systems, the Ganges and Brahmaputra among them, along with extensive reservoirs and coastal wetlands.

5. China – 137,060 km2 (52,920 sq mi)

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Water covers only about 1.4% of vast China, but that includes mighty rivers such as the Yangtze, the longest in Asia, and a growing network of huge reservoirs behind dams like the Three Gorges.

6. Iran – 116,600 km2 (45,000 sq mi)

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Iran is not among the largest countries by land, but around 7% of it is water, thanks largely to its long shoreline on the Caspian Sea, the largest enclosed body of water in the world.

7. Ethiopia – 104,300 km2 (40,300 sq mi)

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Much of Ethiopia’s water is concentrated in the Rift Valley lakes and in Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, which begins its long journey here before joining the White Nile in Sudan.

8. Colombia – 100,210 km2 (38,690 sq mi)

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Almost 9% of Colombia is water. The country is laced with rivers feeding both the Amazon and Orinoco basins, along with wetlands and lakes high in the Andes.

9. Indonesia – 93,000 km2 (36,000 sq mi)

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Spread across thousands of islands, Indonesia’s inland water includes Lake Toba on Sumatra, a vast crater lake formed by one of the largest volcanic eruptions in Earth’s history.

10. DR Congo – 77,810 km2 (30,040 sq mi)

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The largest country in sub-Saharan Africa closes the list. Much of its water comes from the mighty Congo River and from Lake Tanganyika, the world’s longest freshwater lake, shared with Tanzania, Burundi and Zambia.

For more world geography, see the largest countries in the world, the largest islands in the world, and the deepest lakes in the world.

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