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  3. Lesotho vs United States

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

Updated on by Georank team

The United States is 324 times bigger by total area compared to Lesotho: 3,794,100 sq mi vs 11,720 sq mi. Without inland water, the land area of the United States is 3,531,839 sq mi vs 11,722 sq mi for Lesotho — a 301 times difference in territory size.

  • Lesotho ranks 138/197 by total surface area vs 3/197 for the United States.
  • Lesotho occupies 0.02% of the land mass of all countries, compared with 6.14% for the United States.
  • 77.8% of Lesotho's area is agricultural land vs 46.1% in the United States.
  • Lesotho has 0.05% of the world's agricultural land area — the US has 8.83%.
  • 1.14% of Lesotho is covered by forests, compared to 33.9% in the US.
  • 0.0009% of the world's forests are in Lesotho, and 7.67% are in the United States.

True size map comparison: Lesotho vs United States

See how Lesotho 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

Lesotho United States
Total area 11,720
sq mi 		3,794,100
sq mi
Size difference ratio 1 324
Total area rank 138/197 3/197
Share of all countries' surface area 0.006% 1.93%
Land area 11,722
sq mi 		3,531,839
sq mi
Land area difference ratio 1 301
Land area rank 137/197 3/197
Share of all countries' land area 0.02% 6.14%
Population 2,337,423 341,784,857
Population density 203.8 ppl/mi² 97.3 ppl/mi²

Surface area by type

Lesotho United States
Forest area 133.3
sq mi 		1,196,125
sq mi
Forest area as share of land 1.14% 33.9%
Forest area rank 168/196 4/196
World's forests share 0.0009% 7.67%
Agricultural land area 9,115
sq mi 		1,627,576
sq mi
Agricultural land share 77.8% 46.1%
Agricultural land area rank 112/194 2/194
Share of global agricultural land 0.05% 8.83%
Arable land 1,377
sq mi 		585,190
sq mi
Arable land share 11.8% 16.6%
Arable land area rank 133/191 2/191
Permanent cropland 15.4
sq mi 		12,242
sq mi
Permanent cropland share 0.13% 0.35%
Permanent cropland area rank 165/192 14/192
Water area 0
sq mi 		262,262
sq mi
Water as share of total area 0% 6.91%
Water area rank 178/197 3/197
Roads length 3,691
mi 		4,092,730
mi
Land borders length 687
mi 		7,458
mi
Coastline length 0
mi 		12,380
mi
Share of marine protected waters n/a 19%

Size of Lesotho compared to states in USA

If Lesotho were a state in the US, it would be the 42nd biggest by land area: larger than Maryland, smaller than West Virginia, and 22.3 times smaller than the size of Texas.

# State Land area Compared to Lesotho
1 Alaska 570,641 sq mi x48.7
2 Texas 261,232 sq mi x22.3
3 California 155,779 sq mi x13.3
4 Montana 145,546 sq mi x12.4
5 New Mexico 121,298 sq mi x10.3
6 Arizona 113,594 sq mi x9.69
7 Nevada 109,781 sq mi x9.37
8 Colorado 103,642 sq mi x8.84
9 Wyoming 97,093 sq mi x8.28
10 Oregon 95,988 sq mi x8.19
11 Idaho 82,643 sq mi x7.05
12 Utah 82,169 sq mi x7.01
13 Kansas 81,759 sq mi x6.97
14 Minnesota 79,627 sq mi x6.79
15 Nebraska 76,824 sq mi x6.55
16 South Dakota 75,811 sq mi x6.47
17 North Dakota 69,001 sq mi x5.89
18 Missouri 68,742 sq mi x5.86
19 Oklahoma 68,595 sq mi x5.85
20 Washington 66,456 sq mi x5.67
21 Georgia 57,513 sq mi x4.91
22 Michigan 56,539 sq mi x4.82
23 Iowa 55,857 sq mi x4.77
24 Illinois 55,519 sq mi x4.74
25 Wisconsin 54,158 sq mi x4.62
26 Florida 53,625 sq mi x4.57
27 Arkansas 52,035 sq mi x4.44
28 Alabama 50,645 sq mi x4.32
29 North Carolina 48,618 sq mi x4.15
30 New York 47,126 sq mi x4.02
31 Mississippi 46,923 sq mi x4
32 Pennsylvania 44,743 sq mi x3.82
33 Louisiana 43,204 sq mi x3.69
34 Tennessee 41,235 sq mi x3.52
35 Ohio 40,861 sq mi x3.49
36 Virginia 39,490 sq mi x3.37
37 Kentucky 39,486 sq mi x3.37
38 Indiana 35,826 sq mi x3.06
39 Maine 30,843 sq mi x2.63
40 South Carolina 30,061 sq mi x2.56
41 West Virginia 24,038 sq mi x2.05
* Lesotho 11,722 sq mi *
42 Maryland 9,707 sq mi 0.83
43 Vermont 9,217 sq mi 0.79
44 New Hampshire 8,953 sq mi 0.76
45 Massachusetts 7,800 sq mi 0.67
46 New Jersey 7,354 sq mi 0.63
47 Hawaii 6,423 sq mi 0.55
48 Connecticut 4,842 sq mi 0.41
49 Puerto Rico 3,459 sq mi 0.3
50 Delaware 1,949 sq mi 0.17
51 Rhode Island 1,045 sq mi 0.09
52 Guam 209.7 sq mi 0.02
53 Northern Mariana Islands 179.2 sq mi 0.02
54 US Virgin Islands 133.7 sq mi 0.01
55 American Samoa 76.4 sq mi 0.007
56 District of Columbia 61 sq mi 0.005

Lesotho vs United States size on the map

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

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

The map above outlines the borders of Lesotho 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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