5 Countries With Largest Water Area

The following list contains the countries with the largest water area in the world. The water area is the sum of the surfaces of all inland water bodies, such as lakes, reservoirs, or rivers. Territorial waters are not included.

1. Canada – 891,163 km² (344,080 sq mi). The second largest country in the world has the most water in the world. Water occupies 8.93% of the total area of Canada which shares the five great lakes with the United States. Those lakes are one of the main reasons Canada made the top of this list

Niagara Falls on the Canada-US border

2. Russia – 720,500 km² (278,200 sq mi). Russia is the largest country in the world and only 4.21% of it’s area is water. But that’s enough to put it in this list’s second place

Lake Baikal – The deepest lake in the world, Russia

3. United States – 470,131 km² (181,519 sq mi). Just 2.23% of the world’s fourth largest country in the world are water. The great lakes it shares with Canada are responsible for much of that water

Chicago and Lake Michigan – one of the five Great Lakes

4. India – 314,070 km² (121,260 sq mi). The 7th largest country in the world has 9.55% water area, putting it in this list’s 4th place

Hebbal Lake, Karnataka, India

5. China – 137,060 km² (52,920 sq mi). China is the third largest country in the world, but out of all this area, only 1.41% is water

Yangtze River, China