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The Netherlands' area vs the United States': size comparison by land type

Updated on by Georank team

The United States is 262.9 times bigger by total area compared to the Netherlands: 3,794,100 sq mi vs 14,432 sq mi. Without inland water, the land area of the United States is 3,531,839 sq mi vs 13,000 sq mi for the Netherlands — a 271.7 times difference in territory size.

  • The Netherlands ranks 133/197 by total surface area vs 3/197 for the United States.
  • The Netherlands occupies 0.02% of the land mass of all countries, compared with 6.14% for the United States.
  • 53.5% of the Netherlands' area is agricultural land vs 46.1% in the United States.
  • The Netherlands has 0.04% of the world's agricultural land area — the US has 8.83%.
  • 11.1% of the Netherlands is covered by forests, compared to 33.9% in the US.
  • 0.009% of the world's forests are in the Netherlands, and 7.67% are in the United States.

True size map comparison: Netherlands vs United States

See how the Netherlands 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

Netherlands United States
Total area 14,432
sq mi 		3,794,100
sq mi
Size difference ratio 1 262.9
Total area rank 133/197 3/197
Share of all countries' surface area 0.007% 1.93%
Land area 13,000
sq mi 		3,531,839
sq mi
Land area difference ratio 1 271.7
Land area rank 134/197 3/197
Share of all countries' land area 0.02% 6.14%
Population 17,993,485 341,784,857
Population density 1,402 ppl/mi² 97.3 ppl/mi²

Surface area by type

Netherlands United States
Forest area 1,437
sq mi 		1,196,125
sq mi
Forest area as share of land 11.1% 33.9%
Forest area rank 145/196 4/196
World's forests share 0.009% 7.67%
Agricultural land area 6,961
sq mi 		1,627,576
sq mi
Agricultural land share 53.5% 46.1%
Agricultural land area rank 122/194 2/194
Share of global agricultural land 0.04% 8.83%
Arable land 3,896
sq mi 		585,190
sq mi
Arable land share 30% 16.6%
Arable land area rank 107/191 2/191
Permanent cropland 139
sq mi 		12,242
sq mi
Permanent cropland share 1.07% 0.35%
Permanent cropland area rank 134/192 14/192
Water area 1,432
sq mi 		262,262
sq mi
Water as share of total area 9.92% 6.91%
Water area rank 78/197 3/197
Roads length 88,123
mi 		4,092,730
mi
Land borders length 654
mi 		7,458
mi
Coastline length 280.2
mi 		12,380
mi
Share of marine protected waters 33.6% 19%

Size of the Netherlands compared to states in USA

If the Netherlands were a state in the US, it would be the 42nd biggest by land area: larger than Maryland, smaller than West Virginia, and 20.1 times smaller than the size of Texas.

# State Land area Compared to Netherlands
1 Alaska 570,641 sq mi x43.9
2 Texas 261,232 sq mi x20.1
3 California 155,779 sq mi x12
4 Montana 145,546 sq mi x11.2
5 New Mexico 121,298 sq mi x9.33
6 Arizona 113,594 sq mi x8.74
7 Nevada 109,781 sq mi x8.44
8 Colorado 103,642 sq mi x7.97
9 Wyoming 97,093 sq mi x7.47
10 Oregon 95,988 sq mi x7.38
11 Idaho 82,643 sq mi x6.36
12 Utah 82,169 sq mi x6.32
13 Kansas 81,759 sq mi x6.29
14 Minnesota 79,627 sq mi x6.13
15 Nebraska 76,824 sq mi x5.91
16 South Dakota 75,811 sq mi x5.83
17 North Dakota 69,001 sq mi x5.31
18 Missouri 68,742 sq mi x5.29
19 Oklahoma 68,595 sq mi x5.28
20 Washington 66,456 sq mi x5.11
21 Georgia 57,513 sq mi x4.42
22 Michigan 56,539 sq mi x4.35
23 Iowa 55,857 sq mi x4.3
24 Illinois 55,519 sq mi x4.27
25 Wisconsin 54,158 sq mi x4.17
26 Florida 53,625 sq mi x4.12
27 Arkansas 52,035 sq mi x4
28 Alabama 50,645 sq mi x3.9
29 North Carolina 48,618 sq mi x3.74
30 New York 47,126 sq mi x3.63
31 Mississippi 46,923 sq mi x3.61
32 Pennsylvania 44,743 sq mi x3.44
33 Louisiana 43,204 sq mi x3.32
34 Tennessee 41,235 sq mi x3.17
35 Ohio 40,861 sq mi x3.14
36 Virginia 39,490 sq mi x3.04
37 Kentucky 39,486 sq mi x3.04
38 Indiana 35,826 sq mi x2.76
39 Maine 30,843 sq mi x2.37
40 South Carolina 30,061 sq mi x2.31
41 West Virginia 24,038 sq mi x1.85
* Netherlands 13,000 sq mi *
42 Maryland 9,707 sq mi 0.75
43 Vermont 9,217 sq mi 0.71
44 New Hampshire 8,953 sq mi 0.69
45 Massachusetts 7,800 sq mi 0.6
46 New Jersey 7,354 sq mi 0.57
47 Hawaii 6,423 sq mi 0.49
48 Connecticut 4,842 sq mi 0.37
49 Puerto Rico 3,459 sq mi 0.27
50 Delaware 1,949 sq mi 0.15
51 Rhode Island 1,045 sq mi 0.08
52 Guam 209.7 sq mi 0.02
53 Northern Mariana Islands 179.2 sq mi 0.01
54 US Virgin Islands 133.7 sq mi 0.01
55 American Samoa 76.4 sq mi 0.006
56 District of Columbia 61 sq mi 0.005

Netherlands vs United States size on the map

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

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

The map above outlines the borders of the Netherlands 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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