10 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 whichSHARES 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

6. Iran – 116,600 km2 (45,000 sq mi). Iran is not even in the world’s top 10 largest countries list, but as far as water is considered, it has plenty. As much as 7.07% of it’s surface is water and that is thanks to the huge Caspian Sea is sits ashore of

The Caspian Sea – the largest lake in the world

7. Ethiopia – 104,300 km2 (40,300). Less than one percent of the area of Ethiopia: 0.7%

The Blue Nile Falls, Ethiopia

8. Colombia – 100,210 km2 (38,690). 8.8% of the total area of Colombia

The Amazon River of South America passes through Colombia

9.  Indonesia – 93,000 km2 (36,000)

Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia

10. Congo (DR) – 77,810 km2 (30,040). The largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa closes the list. This large water area is only 3.32% of the total area of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Much of that water comes from Lake Tanganyika which is the longest lake in the world and 6th largest in the world. CongoSHARES this lake with Tanzania, Burundi, and Zambia