Alaska
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Total surface area1,723,337 km²2010
Land area1,477,953 km²2010
TypeUS state
US state. Total area includes land and water under the Census Bureau's 2010 definition.
Area source: U.S. Census Bureau (2010)
02Act II · 1:1 studioChange pair ↙
Which is bigger: Alaska or United States?
The United States is larger: 9,833,517 km² versus 1,723,337 km² for Alaska, about 5.7 times the area.
Both areas at the same scale: Alaska and United States. Drag the outlines, separate them and see what the Mercator map hides.
True-size comparison
Same scale. Real difference.
Drag the outlines to overlap them, or place them side by side.
United States ↗
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Total surface area9,833,517 km²ed. 2024
Population341,784,8572025
Land area9,147,420 km²2023
TypeCountry
The whole USA: 50 states and Washington, DC, including Alaska and Hawaii. This is not the Lower 48.
Area source: UN Demographic Yearbook 2024, Table 3
03 · Verdict
What the map gets wrong
True area tells a different story than the Mercator map.
True area ratio5.7×Larger in reality: United States.
Mercator: estimate at the area’s center2.2×Looks larger on a Mercator map: United States.
Why does this happen?
The Mercator projection enlarges areas more and more the farther they lie from the equator. The centers of the two areas lie about 64° (Alaska) and 45° (United States) from the equator. An estimate based on each center’s latitude gives an area ratio of 2.2 : 1, compared with the real ratio of 5.7 : 1. This is not a measurement of the entire outlines on a Mercator map.
Tip: You can also compare these items dynamically by clicking the link below and dragging them directly across the global interactive map.
Figures represent total surface area from the sources listed beside each subject. The overlay uses an equal-area projection. Coastal outlines are simplified and do not include all waters counted in the statistics. Their area ratio can therefore differ from the ratio of official total areas. Geometry: Natural Earth, public domain. Read the methodology ↗
Why do Alaska and the United States look different on a Mercator map than in reality?
The Mercator projection preserves angles, which makes it useful for navigation, but it enlarges areas more and more the farther they lie from the equator. At 60° latitude, areas already appear four times larger than at the equator. A same-scale comparison like the one on this page greatly reduces that distortion.
How big is Alaska in square kilometres?
Alaska covers 1,723,337 km² in total: 1,477,953 km² of land and 245,384 km² of water. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010. Water includes inland, coastal and territorial categories under Census definitions. A coastal outline does not show the entire statistical water area.
What territory does the United States cover in this comparison?
The whole USA: 50 states and Washington, DC, including Alaska and Hawaii. This is not the Lower 48.
What percentage of the United States is Alaska?
Alaska accounts for about 17.5% of the total US area in this comparison. The USA here includes Alaska itself and Hawaii. The often quoted figure of about 21% compares Alaska with the 48 contiguous states, or Lower 48, which is a different denominator.