Defining The United States's Enormity

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Introduction

We all know the United States is a big country. It accounts for about 3.797 million sq miles, or 9.384 million kilometers. Only two other countries in the world, Canada and Russia, are bigger than the United States. The United States is bigger than the 107 smallest countries on the planet. I don't want to give away too much in the introduction alone, so let's continue on.

This blog will be separated into different categories, just to actually visualize how big the United States actually is.

Driving In Europe Vs The United States

I know driving in Europe is extreme paradise, but not only that, everything in Europe is near each other. There's many countries right there, all you have to do is just take a hop, jump, and a skirt.

For example, if start in London, and drive 31 hours east, we're going to reach Moscow. I know 31 hours seems like a long time, but keep in mind we cross over 8 countries in that time period (including the UK and Russia).

On the other hand, if we start in New York City, and just drive west for 41 hours, we will reach Los Angeles. This is just one country, which means it takes more time (10 hours) to drive the width of almost an entire country than 8 countries.

But let's not even take the entire length of the Lower 48. Instead, let's just take the state of Texas. We all know from the start that Texas is big. If we're in Houston, and drive west approximately 11 hours, then only will we reach El Paso, which is still in Texas. If we take the "normal" route, the only major city we're going to cross is San Antonio, and that too, after about 3 hours. So basically, you're just driving Sure there's more settlements and towns in that route, but this just gives one the visualization of how spread out cities not only Texas, but the entire United States are.

Comparison Of US States To Countries By Area

The United States's 3 biggest states are Alaska at 663,000 sq miles, Texas at 268,597 sq miles, and California at 163,696 sq miles. This accounts for about 1,150,000 sq miles, which means those 3 states combined would be the 17th largest country in the world or right between Sudan and Libya.

Below is a list of states that are bigger in area than the given country (This list will have 5 countries) :

1) United Kingdom- 93,628 sq miles

a) Alaska- 663,000 sq miles

b) Texas- 268,597 sq miles

c) California- 163,696 sq miles

d) Montana- 147,047 sq miles

e) New Mexico- 121,696 sq miles

f) Arizona- 113,998 sq miles

g) Nevada- 110,571 sq miles

h) Colorado-104,093 sq miles

i) Oregon- 98,378 sq miles

j) Wyoming- 97,813 sq miles

k) Michigan- 96,713 sq miles


2) New Zealand- 103,483 sq miles

a) Alaska- 663,000 sq miles

b) Texas- 268,597 sq miles

c) California- 163,696 sq miles

d) Montana- 147,047 sq miles

e) New Mexico- 121,696 sq miles

f) Arizona- 113,998 sq miles

g) Nevada- 110,571 sq miles

h) Colorado-104,093 sq miles


3) Malaysia- 127,355 sq miles

a) Alaska- 663,000 sq miles

b) Texas- 268,597 sq miles

c) California- 163,696 sq miles

d) Montana- 147,047 sq miles


4) Ecuador- 106,889 sq miles

a) Alaska- 663,000 sq miles

b) Texas- 268,597 sq miles

c) California- 163,696 sq miles

d) Montana- 147,047 sq miles

e) New Mexico- 121,696 sq miles

f) Arizona- 113,998 sq miles

g) Nevada- 110,571 sq miles


5) Belarus- 80,155 sq miles

a) Alaska- 663,000 sq miles

b) Texas- 268,597 sq miles

c) California- 163,696 sq miles

d) Montana- 147,047 sq miles

e) New Mexico- 121,696 sq miles

f) Arizona- 113,998 sq miles

g) Nevada- 110,571 sq miles

h) Colorado- 104,093 sq miles

i) Oregon- 98,378 sq miles

j) Wyoming- 97,813 sq miles

k) Michigan- 96,713 sq miles

l) Minnesota- 86,935 sq miles

m) Utah- 84,896 sq miles

n) Idaho- 83,856 sq miles

o) Kansas- 82,278 sq miles

Just for a bit of insight, the biggest state in the country, Alaska, is bigger than the next 4 other biggest US states combined. So in a way, the US is bigger than the US.

Comparison Of US Cities/Regions To Countries By Population

The United States has about 333 million people. An approximate 89% of those people live in cities (me not included).

The United States's 3 biggest cities by population would be New York City (8 million people), Los Angeles, (4 million people), and Chicago (2 million people). Combined, these cities have about 14 million people, which would be the 74th biggest country in the world right before Zimbabwe (also around 14 million).

Keep in mind that the individual cities of New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago (this is by city limits, not metropolitan area) also have more people than many countries.

For example, as mentioned earlier, New York City has about 8 million people. This would be the 103rd biggest country in the world (out of 196), beating out countries like Paraguay, Libya, Bulgaria, and even Oman.

If we take Los Angeles, we would be talking 4 million people. This would become the 133rd biggest country in the world (again out of 196), beating out countries like Uruguay, Botswana, and North Macedonia.

Lastly, if we take Chicago, this would be about 2 million people. Obviously that wouldn't be the biggest country in the world, but this time we have a ranking of 147 (still out of 196), beating out countries Bahrain, Latvia, and Estonia.

Just for fun, if we take the biggest metropolitan area in the United States (The New York City Metropolitan Area), we would be talking about 20.1 million people. This area accounts for about 13,000 sq miles. Just for comparison, in a country that's around the size of Guinea-Bissau live around 20.1 million people. Guinea Bissau on the other hand, has about 1.91 million people.

Comparison Of US Counties To Countries

The United States's largest county by area is San Bernardino County in California at about 21,000 sq miles. The United States's largest county by population is Los Angeles County also in California at about 10 million people. In fact, these two counties actually border each other!

First, let's take San Bernardino County. As mentioned before, this county comprises of 21,000 sq miles of land. This would be the 127th biggest country in the world (by area), right before Croatia.

Similarly, if we take Los Angeles County, we would be talking about 10 million people. This would be the 94th most populous country in the world, right before Tajikistan.


If we stay in just the United States however, San Bernardino County is bigger than the 10 smallest states (individually) or the 4 smallest states combined. (This is by area).

Los Angeles County is bigger than the 40 smallest states (individually) by population, or the 7 smallest states combined. (This is by population).

Economy 

The United has the biggest economy in the world at $21 trillion, or about 23% of the entire world's economy. China comes 2nd at $16 trillion, or about 17% of the entire world's economy.

On the other hand, China comes in 1st in GDP PPP (Purchasing Power Parity), at $25 trillion. Purchasing Power Parity is the scale of measurement of different prices in different countries. The United States comes in 2nd, at around $20 trillion.

So while the Chinese economy on a whole is about 30% smaller than that of the United States, the Chinese have about 20% greater purchasing power then the Americans.

The 3 biggest state economies in the US are California ($3.35 trillion), Texas ($2 trillion), and New York ($1.7 trillion). Combined, this would account for about $7 trillion, or the 3rd biggest economy in the world. (Too bad we don't have 2 Californias, Texases, and New Yorks).

But if we stay where we are, California's economy is comparable to Germany's, Texas's economy is comparable to Italy's, and New York's economy is comparable to Mexico's.

Military 

We all know the US's military is huge. So huge in fact, the country spends about $778 billion on it every year. The country also has the best equipped military in the world, even though it is the 3rd biggest. This military is made up of about 1.3 million personnel, while India's (2nd biggest) has about 1.4 million personnel, and China's (biggest) has about 2.1 million personnel.

As mentioned earlier, the United States spends about $778 billion on its military every year. This accounts for about 4.2% of the entire country's economy, or about 37% of the world's entire military budget. In fact, the US spends more than the next 9 countries on military combined.

Behind the US are China at $155 billion, and Saudi Arabia with at $76 billion in military spending.

Conclusion

I'm sorry if this blog bored you, but hope you learned something new! Thanks for reading! :)

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Level 71
Jan 29, 2022
What exactly do you mean by saying that Alaska is bigger than the next 19 biggest states combined. Did you mean something else, because it is bigger than the next 4 states combined
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Level 55
Jan 29, 2022
Sorry, fixed
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Level 71
Jan 29, 2022
However, it was nice to see some numbers put into comparison, cool blog.
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Level 44
Jan 29, 2022
Wait, China (PRC) has two “trillion” personnel? That’s 253 human populations combined!!!
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Level 55
Jan 29, 2022
okay, im sorry this blog wasn't very well fact-checked. but i tried to see if there were any more issues, but i think we're good...??
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Level 63
Jan 30, 2022
Interesting blog! The sheer power of some US states really surprises me sometimes like California and Texas, which have militaries and economies much larger than other very powerful countries.
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Level 55
Jan 30, 2022
So how exactly does this debunk how big the U.S. actually is?
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Level 55
Jan 30, 2022
thanks to everyone else.

@Dekkie, I tried to divide the blog into separate categories, showing how big some parts of the US are compared to other countries.

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Level 62
Jan 30, 2022
'Debunk' means show to be false. So this blog should be showing how the US is actually smaller than people think.
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Level 55
Jan 30, 2022
Oh, my source said something different. In that case, I've changed the title. Thanks!