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Ethiopia's area vs the United States': size comparison by land type

Updated on by Georank team

The United States is 8.9 times bigger by total area compared to Ethiopia: 3,794,100 sq mi vs 426,373 sq mi. Without inland water, the land area of the United States is 3,531,839 sq mi vs 435,716 sq mi for Ethiopia — a 8.11 times difference in territory size.

  • Ethiopia ranks 26/197 by total surface area vs 3/197 for the United States.
  • Ethiopia occupies 0.76% of the land mass of all countries, compared with 6.14% for the United States.
  • 34.1% of Ethiopia's area is agricultural land vs 46.1% in the United States.
  • Ethiopia has 0.81% of the world's agricultural land area — the US has 8.83%.
  • 14.9% of Ethiopia is covered by forests, compared to 33.9% in the US.
  • 0.42% of the world's forests are in Ethiopia, and 7.67% are in the United States.

True size map comparison: Ethiopia vs United States

See how Ethiopia and the United States compare in true size on the map. Drag the outlines to different latitudes to see how the Mercator projection affects their apparent size.

Total size and land area comparison

Ethiopia United States
Total area 426,373
sq mi
3,794,100
sq mi
Size difference ratio 1 8.9
Total area rank 26/197 3/197
Share of all countries' surface area 0.22% 1.93%
Land area 435,716
sq mi
3,531,839
sq mi
Land area difference ratio 1 8.11
Land area rank 25/197 3/197
Share of all countries' land area 0.76% 6.14%
Population 132,059,767 341,784,857
Population density 319 ppl/mi² 97.3 ppl/mi²

Surface area by type

Ethiopia United States
Forest area 65,056
sq mi
1,196,125
sq mi
Forest area as share of land 14.9% 33.9%
Forest area rank 40/196 4/196
World's forests share 0.42% 7.67%
Agricultural land area 148,483
sq mi
1,627,576
sq mi
Agricultural land share 34.1% 46.1%
Agricultural land area rank 34/194 2/194
Share of global agricultural land 0.81% 8.83%
Arable land 63,321
sq mi
585,190
sq mi
Arable land share 14.5% 16.6%
Arable land area rank 19/191 2/191
Permanent cropland 7,942
sq mi
12,242
sq mi
Permanent cropland share 1.82% 0.35%
Permanent cropland area rank 21/192 14/192
Water area 0
sq mi
262,262
sq mi
Water as share of total area 0% 6.91%
Water area rank 175/197 3/197
Roads length 74,671
mi
4,092,730
mi
Land borders length 3,682
mi
7,458
mi
Coastline length 0
mi
12,380
mi
Share of marine protected waters n/a 19%

Size of Ethiopia compared to states in USA

If Ethiopia were a state in the US, it would be the 2nd biggest by land area: 1.31 smaller than Alaska but 1.67 times larger than the size of Texas.

# State Land area Compared to Ethiopia
1 Alaska 570,641 sq mi x1.31
* Ethiopia 435,716 sq mi *
2 Texas 261,232 sq mi 0.6
3 California 155,779 sq mi 0.36
4 Montana 145,546 sq mi 0.33
5 New Mexico 121,298 sq mi 0.28
6 Arizona 113,594 sq mi 0.26
7 Nevada 109,781 sq mi 0.25
8 Colorado 103,642 sq mi 0.24
9 Wyoming 97,093 sq mi 0.22
10 Oregon 95,988 sq mi 0.22
11 Idaho 82,643 sq mi 0.19
12 Utah 82,169 sq mi 0.19
13 Kansas 81,759 sq mi 0.19
14 Minnesota 79,627 sq mi 0.18
15 Nebraska 76,824 sq mi 0.18
16 South Dakota 75,811 sq mi 0.17
17 North Dakota 69,001 sq mi 0.16
18 Missouri 68,742 sq mi 0.16
19 Oklahoma 68,595 sq mi 0.16
20 Washington 66,456 sq mi 0.15
21 Georgia 57,513 sq mi 0.13
22 Michigan 56,539 sq mi 0.13
23 Iowa 55,857 sq mi 0.13
24 Illinois 55,519 sq mi 0.13
25 Wisconsin 54,158 sq mi 0.12
26 Florida 53,625 sq mi 0.12
27 Arkansas 52,035 sq mi 0.12
28 Alabama 50,645 sq mi 0.12
29 North Carolina 48,618 sq mi 0.11
30 New York 47,126 sq mi 0.11
31 Mississippi 46,923 sq mi 0.11
32 Pennsylvania 44,743 sq mi 0.1
33 Louisiana 43,204 sq mi 0.1
34 Tennessee 41,235 sq mi 0.09
35 Ohio 40,861 sq mi 0.09
36 Virginia 39,490 sq mi 0.09
37 Kentucky 39,486 sq mi 0.09
38 Indiana 35,826 sq mi 0.08
39 Maine 30,843 sq mi 0.07
40 South Carolina 30,061 sq mi 0.07
41 West Virginia 24,038 sq mi 0.06
42 Maryland 9,707 sq mi 0.02
43 Vermont 9,217 sq mi 0.02
44 New Hampshire 8,953 sq mi 0.02
45 Massachusetts 7,800 sq mi 0.02
46 New Jersey 7,354 sq mi 0.02
47 Hawaii 6,423 sq mi 0.01
48 Connecticut 4,842 sq mi 0.01
49 Puerto Rico 3,459 sq mi 0.008
50 Delaware 1,949 sq mi 0.004
51 Rhode Island 1,045 sq mi 0.002
52 Guam 209.7 sq mi 0.0005
53 Northern Mariana Islands 179.2 sq mi 0.0004
54 US Virgin Islands 133.7 sq mi 0.0003
55 American Samoa 76.4 sq mi 0.0002
56 District of Columbia 61 sq mi 0.0001

Ethiopia vs United States size on the map

Data sources: World Bank | Agriculture & Rural Development (2026, retrieved 2026-04-06).

GeoRank.org/size/ethiopia/united-states | CC BY

The map above outlines the borders of Ethiopia and the United States but is not accurate for size comparison because it's a 2d map with Mercator projection that distorts territories near the poles. The farther a country is from the equator, the more magnified it appears. More about country size projections.

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Data sources:

  1. World Bank | Agriculture & Rural Development (2023–2026, retrieved 2026-04-06)
  2. Wikidata (2026, retrieved 2026-02-08)
  3. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (2025, retrieved 2026-02-20)
  4. United Nations | World Population Prospects (2026, retrieved 2026-03-10)
  5. U.S. Census Bureau (2025, retrieved 2026-02-08)

Total agricultural land encompasses all areas used for agriculture: territories under permanent and temporary crops and pastures. It includes land under flowering shrubs, fruit and nut trees, and vineyards, but excludes sites utilized for timber production.

Arable land encompasses fields utilized for temporary crop production, pastures, market or kitchen gardens, and temporarily fallowed land. Land abandoned due to shifting cultivation practices is not included.

Permanent cropland refers to farmland for the long-term cultivation of crops, such as coffee, cocoa, and rubber, which do not require replanting after each harvest. This category encompasses land with permanent crops like flowering shrubs, fruit and nut trees, and vines, but does not include land under trees for timber production.

Inland areas under water, such as large rivers, lakes, and some coastal waterways.

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