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

Updated on by Georank team

The United States is 149.8 times bigger by total area compared to Sri Lanka: 3,794,100 sq mi vs 25,332 sq mi. Without inland water, the land area of the United States is 3,531,839 sq mi vs 23,884 sq mi for Sri Lanka — a 147.9 times difference in territory size.

  • Sri Lanka ranks 120/197 by total surface area vs 3/197 for the United States.
  • Sri Lanka occupies 0.04% of the land mass of all countries, compared with 6.14% for the United States.
  • 48.6% of Sri Lanka's area is agricultural land vs 46.1% in the United States.
  • Sri Lanka has 0.06% of the world's agricultural land area — the US has 8.83%.
  • 34% of Sri Lanka is covered by forests, compared to 33.9% in the US.
  • 0.05% of the world's forests are in Sri Lanka, and 7.67% are in the United States.

True size map comparison: Sri Lanka vs United States

See how Sri Lanka 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

Sri Lanka United States
Total area 25,332
sq mi
3,794,100
sq mi
Size difference ratio 1 149.8
Total area rank 120/197 3/197
Share of all countries' surface area 0.01% 1.93%
Land area 23,884
sq mi
3,531,839
sq mi
Land area difference ratio 1 147.9
Land area rank 122/197 3/197
Share of all countries' land area 0.04% 6.14%
Population 21,916,000 341,784,857
Population density 928 ppl/mi² 97.3 ppl/mi²

Surface area by type

Sri Lanka United States
Forest area 8,122
sq mi
1,196,125
sq mi
Forest area as share of land 34% 33.9%
Forest area rank 107/196 4/196
World's forests share 0.05% 7.67%
Agricultural land area 11,610
sq mi
1,627,576
sq mi
Agricultural land share 48.6% 46.1%
Agricultural land area rank 103/194 2/194
Share of global agricultural land 0.06% 8.83%
Arable land 5,297
sq mi
585,190
sq mi
Arable land share 22.2% 16.6%
Arable land area rank 94/191 2/191
Permanent cropland 4,614
sq mi
12,242
sq mi
Permanent cropland share 19.3% 0.35%
Permanent cropland area rank 31/192 14/192
Water area 1,448
sq mi
262,262
sq mi
Water as share of total area 5.72% 6.91%
Water area rank 77/197 3/197
Roads length 70,894
mi
4,092,730
mi
Land borders length 0
mi
7,458
mi
Coastline length 833
mi
12,380
mi
Share of marine protected waters 0.1% 19%

Size of Sri Lanka compared to states in USA

If Sri Lanka were a state in the US, it would be the 42nd biggest by land area: larger than Maryland, smaller than West Virginia, and 10.9 times smaller than the size of Texas.

# State Land area Compared to Sri Lanka
1 Alaska 570,641 sq mi x23.9
2 Texas 261,232 sq mi x10.9
3 California 155,779 sq mi x6.52
4 Montana 145,546 sq mi x6.09
5 New Mexico 121,298 sq mi x5.08
6 Arizona 113,594 sq mi x4.76
7 Nevada 109,781 sq mi x4.6
8 Colorado 103,642 sq mi x4.34
9 Wyoming 97,093 sq mi x4.07
10 Oregon 95,988 sq mi x4.02
11 Idaho 82,643 sq mi x3.46
12 Utah 82,169 sq mi x3.44
13 Kansas 81,759 sq mi x3.42
14 Minnesota 79,627 sq mi x3.33
15 Nebraska 76,824 sq mi x3.22
16 South Dakota 75,811 sq mi x3.17
17 North Dakota 69,001 sq mi x2.89
18 Missouri 68,742 sq mi x2.88
19 Oklahoma 68,595 sq mi x2.87
20 Washington 66,456 sq mi x2.78
21 Georgia 57,513 sq mi x2.41
22 Michigan 56,539 sq mi x2.37
23 Iowa 55,857 sq mi x2.34
24 Illinois 55,519 sq mi x2.32
25 Wisconsin 54,158 sq mi x2.27
26 Florida 53,625 sq mi x2.25
27 Arkansas 52,035 sq mi x2.18
28 Alabama 50,645 sq mi x2.12
29 North Carolina 48,618 sq mi x2.04
30 New York 47,126 sq mi x1.97
31 Mississippi 46,923 sq mi x1.96
32 Pennsylvania 44,743 sq mi x1.87
33 Louisiana 43,204 sq mi x1.81
34 Tennessee 41,235 sq mi x1.73
35 Ohio 40,861 sq mi x1.71
36 Virginia 39,490 sq mi x1.65
37 Kentucky 39,486 sq mi x1.65
38 Indiana 35,826 sq mi x1.5
39 Maine 30,843 sq mi x1.29
40 South Carolina 30,061 sq mi x1.26
41 West Virginia 24,038 sq mi x1.01
* Sri Lanka 23,884 sq mi *
42 Maryland 9,707 sq mi 0.41
43 Vermont 9,217 sq mi 0.39
44 New Hampshire 8,953 sq mi 0.37
45 Massachusetts 7,800 sq mi 0.33
46 New Jersey 7,354 sq mi 0.31
47 Hawaii 6,423 sq mi 0.27
48 Connecticut 4,842 sq mi 0.2
49 Puerto Rico 3,459 sq mi 0.14
50 Delaware 1,949 sq mi 0.08
51 Rhode Island 1,045 sq mi 0.04
52 Guam 209.7 sq mi 0.009
53 Northern Mariana Islands 179.2 sq mi 0.008
54 US Virgin Islands 133.7 sq mi 0.006
55 American Samoa 76.4 sq mi 0.003
56 District of Columbia 61 sq mi 0.003

Sri Lanka vs United States size on the map

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

GeoRank.org/size/sri-lanka/united-states | CC BY

The map above outlines the borders of Sri Lanka 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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