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  3. Malaysia vs United States

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

Updated on by Georank team

The United States is 29.7 times bigger by total area compared to Malaysia: 3,794,100 sq mi vs 127,724 sq mi. Without inland water, the land area of the United States is 3,531,839 sq mi vs 126,854 sq mi for Malaysia — a 27.8 times difference in territory size.

  • Malaysia ranks 68/197 by total surface area vs 3/197 for the United States.
  • Malaysia occupies 0.22% of the land mass of all countries, compared with 6.14% for the United States.
  • 26.1% of Malaysia's area is agricultural land vs 46.1% in the United States.
  • Malaysia has 0.18% of the world's agricultural land area — the US has 8.83%.
  • 57.7% of Malaysia is covered by forests, compared to 33.9% in the US.
  • 0.47% of the world's forests are in Malaysia, and 7.67% are in the United States.

True size map comparison: Malaysia vs United States

See how Malaysia 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

Malaysia United States
Total area 127,724
sq mi 		3,794,100
sq mi
Size difference ratio 1 29.7
Total area rank 68/197 3/197
Share of all countries' surface area 0.06% 1.93%
Land area 126,854
sq mi 		3,531,839
sq mi
Land area difference ratio 1 27.8
Land area rank 65/197 3/197
Share of all countries' land area 0.22% 6.14%
Population 35,557,673 341,784,857
Population density 287 ppl/mi² 97.3 ppl/mi²

Surface area by type

Malaysia United States
Forest area 73,219
sq mi 		1,196,125
sq mi
Forest area as share of land 57.7% 33.9%
Forest area rank 32/196 4/196
World's forests share 0.47% 7.67%
Agricultural land area 33,093
sq mi 		1,627,576
sq mi
Agricultural land share 26.1% 46.1%
Agricultural land area rank 77/194 2/194
Share of global agricultural land 0.18% 8.83%
Arable land 3,028
sq mi 		585,190
sq mi
Arable land share 2.39% 16.6%
Arable land area rank 116/191 2/191
Permanent cropland 28,803
sq mi 		12,242
sq mi
Permanent cropland share 22.7% 0.35%
Permanent cropland area rank 6/192 14/192
Water area 870
sq mi 		262,262
sq mi
Water as share of total area 0.68% 6.91%
Water area rank 91/197 3/197
Roads length 173,898
mi 		4,092,730
mi
Land borders length 1,704
mi 		7,458
mi
Coastline length 2,905
mi 		12,380
mi
Share of marine protected waters 4.8% 19%

Size of Malaysia compared to states in USA

If Malaysia were a state in the US, it would be the 5th biggest by land area: larger than New Mexico, smaller than Montana, and 2.06 times smaller than the size of Texas.

# State Land area Compared to Malaysia
1 Alaska 570,641 sq mi x4.5
2 Texas 261,232 sq mi x2.06
3 California 155,779 sq mi x1.23
4 Montana 145,546 sq mi x1.15
* Malaysia 126,854 sq mi *
5 New Mexico 121,298 sq mi 0.96
6 Arizona 113,594 sq mi 0.9
7 Nevada 109,781 sq mi 0.87
8 Colorado 103,642 sq mi 0.82
9 Wyoming 97,093 sq mi 0.77
10 Oregon 95,988 sq mi 0.76
11 Idaho 82,643 sq mi 0.65
12 Utah 82,169 sq mi 0.65
13 Kansas 81,759 sq mi 0.64
14 Minnesota 79,627 sq mi 0.63
15 Nebraska 76,824 sq mi 0.61
16 South Dakota 75,811 sq mi 0.6
17 North Dakota 69,001 sq mi 0.54
18 Missouri 68,742 sq mi 0.54
19 Oklahoma 68,595 sq mi 0.54
20 Washington 66,456 sq mi 0.52
21 Georgia 57,513 sq mi 0.45
22 Michigan 56,539 sq mi 0.45
23 Iowa 55,857 sq mi 0.44
24 Illinois 55,519 sq mi 0.44
25 Wisconsin 54,158 sq mi 0.43
26 Florida 53,625 sq mi 0.42
27 Arkansas 52,035 sq mi 0.41
28 Alabama 50,645 sq mi 0.4
29 North Carolina 48,618 sq mi 0.38
30 New York 47,126 sq mi 0.37
31 Mississippi 46,923 sq mi 0.37
32 Pennsylvania 44,743 sq mi 0.35
33 Louisiana 43,204 sq mi 0.34
34 Tennessee 41,235 sq mi 0.33
35 Ohio 40,861 sq mi 0.32
36 Virginia 39,490 sq mi 0.31
37 Kentucky 39,486 sq mi 0.31
38 Indiana 35,826 sq mi 0.28
39 Maine 30,843 sq mi 0.24
40 South Carolina 30,061 sq mi 0.24
41 West Virginia 24,038 sq mi 0.19
42 Maryland 9,707 sq mi 0.08
43 Vermont 9,217 sq mi 0.07
44 New Hampshire 8,953 sq mi 0.07
45 Massachusetts 7,800 sq mi 0.06
46 New Jersey 7,354 sq mi 0.06
47 Hawaii 6,423 sq mi 0.05
48 Connecticut 4,842 sq mi 0.04
49 Puerto Rico 3,459 sq mi 0.03
50 Delaware 1,949 sq mi 0.02
51 Rhode Island 1,045 sq mi 0.008
52 Guam 209.7 sq mi 0.002
53 Northern Mariana Islands 179.2 sq mi 0.001
54 US Virgin Islands 133.7 sq mi 0.001
55 American Samoa 76.4 sq mi 0.0006
56 District of Columbia 61 sq mi 0.0005

Malaysia vs United States size on the map

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

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

The map above outlines the borders of Malaysia 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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