It is huge. Like, mind-bendingly huge. When you talk about land area in Russia, you aren't just talking about a country; you're essentially discussing a significant chunk of the Earth's crust that happens to sit under one flag.
Russia covers roughly 17.1 million square kilometers. To put that in perspective, it’s about one-eighth of the habitable land on the entire planet. If you were to hop on the Trans-Siberian Railway in Moscow and head east, you wouldn’t hit the Pacific Ocean for another six days. You’d cross eleven different time zones along the way. Think about that for a second. When a baker in Kaliningrad is pulling a fresh loaf of bread out of the oven at 7:00 AM, a fisherman in Vladivostok is probably already thinking about what to have for dinner as the sun sets. It’s a geographical anomaly that defies easy comprehension.
Honestly, numbers like "17 million" don't really do it justice. You have to look at the neighbors. Russia is nearly twice the size of Canada, the second-largest country. It’s larger than the entire continent of Australia. It’s even larger than the surface area of Pluto. Yeah, the (former) planet.
Breaking Down the Land Area in Russia
So, where does all this space actually go? It’s not just one big flat field. The land area in Russia is a chaotic mix of ecosystems that transition from freezing arctic tundra to lush, ancient forests, and even down to parched steppes that feel more like Central Asia than Northern Europe.
The Ural Mountains are the traditional divider. They split the country into European Russia and Asian Russia (Siberia). Roughly 75% of the land sits in Asia, but ironically, about 75% of the people live in the European part. This creates a strange demographic tension. You have these hyper-dense, glittering urban hubs like Moscow and St. Petersburg in the west, and then you have millions of square miles of "emptiness" to the east.
But "empty" is a bit of a misnomer. Siberia is packed with resources. We're talking about the Taiga—the world's largest forest belt. It’s a massive carbon sink that breathes for the rest of the planet. Then you have Lake Baikal, which holds about 20% of the world's unfrozen freshwater. It’s so deep and so vast that it’s basically an inland sea.
The Tundra and the Permafrost Problem
North of the Taiga, the trees just... stop. This is the Tundra. It’s a brutal landscape where the ground is permanently frozen. Well, it was permanently frozen.
Climate change is doing a number on the land area in Russia. As the permafrost melts, the literal foundation of the country is shifting. Buildings in cities like Norilsk are cracking because the ground beneath them is turning into a swamp. It’s a weird irony: Russia has the most land, but a huge portion of it is becoming increasingly unstable to build on. Scientists like Sergey Zimov have been studying this for decades at the Pleistocene Park in Yakutia, trying to understand how this massive landmass affects the global climate. If the Siberian permafrost thaws completely, it releases methane, which makes the world warmer, which thaws more permafrost. It's a loop.
Why the Size Actually Matters for Geopolitics
You can’t talk about Russia without talking about its borders. Because the land area in Russia is so expansive, it shares borders with 16 different countries. It touches Norway and North Korea. That is an insane geographical span.
Historically, this has been both a blessing and a curse. It’s famously impossible to conquer because of "General Winter" and the sheer depth of the territory. If an invading army takes a city, the Russian forces can just retreat another 500 miles into the interior. Space is a weapon. Napoleon found out the hard way. Hitler found out the hard way.
On the flip side, governing that much space is a nightmare. Imagine trying to maintain roads that stretch across eight thousand kilometers of frost-heaved soil. The logistics are staggering. This is why the Russian state has historically been so centralized; it’s the only way to keep the fringes from drifting away.
Comparing Russia to the Rest of the World
People often get confused by Mercator projection maps. You know the ones—the flat maps hanging in every classroom. They make Russia look like it swallows the entire top half of the world. While it is the biggest, the Mercator projection exaggerates size near the poles.
Even so, the reality is still staggering:
- Russia vs. USA: You could fit the United States into Russia twice and still have room for a few smaller European nations.
- Russia vs. China: Despite China’s massive population, Russia is nearly double its size in terms of pure acreage.
- Russia vs. The Moon: Russia’s surface area is about 17 million square km; the Moon is about 38 million. So, Russia is nearly half the size of the Moon’s surface.
The Wild East: Siberia and Beyond
Most of the land area in Russia is Siberia. People hear "Siberia" and think of gulags and snow. And yeah, it’s cold. Oymyakon is the coldest inhabited place on Earth, with temperatures dropping below -60°C. But in the summer? It can hit 30°C. The mosquitoes are legendary.
The Far East is a whole different vibe. Places like Kamchatka are home to massive volcanoes and brown bears that would make a Grizzly look like a cub. It’s one of the last true wildernesses left on Earth. The land here isn't just "space"—it’s a geological powerhouse. It’s where the Pacific Plate grinds against the Eurasian Plate, creating a landscape of geysers and smoking peaks.
Is Russia Growing or Shrinking?
Technically, the land area in Russia changed in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea, adding about 27,000 square kilometers. However, this isn't internationally recognized by most of the UN. Then you have the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, where borders are being contested in real-time.
Geologically, though, the land is static. But functionally? It’s shrinking. As rural populations migrate to Moscow and the "Death of the Russian Village" continues, vast swaths of agricultural land are being reclaimed by the forest. You can fly for hours over central Russia and see nothing but the ruins of collective farms being swallowed by birch trees.
Practical Insights for Navigating This Giant
If you’re ever planning to actually see the land area in Russia for yourself, you need a reality check on scale.
- Internal Flights are Mandatory: Unless you have weeks to spare, don’t try to drive across. A flight from Moscow to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy takes about nine hours. That’s the same as flying from New York to London.
- The Train is an Experience, Not a Commute: The Trans-Siberian is a rite of passage, but it’s a test of endurance. You will see more trees than you ever thought possible.
- Regional Diversity: Don't expect the whole country to look like the Red Square. The Republic of Tatarstan feels different from the Primorsky Krai. The Caucasus mountains in the south look more like the Swiss Alps than the flat plains of Siberia.
- Bureaucracy and Zones: Because the country is so big and has sensitive borders, some areas (especially in the north and Far East) are "closed cities" or restricted zones. You can't just wander anywhere you want.
Final Thoughts on the Russian Landscape
The land area in Russia is the country's defining characteristic. It dictates the economy (oil, gas, timber), the defense strategy, and the very psyche of the people who live there. It is a place of extremes—unbearably cold, surprisingly hot, impossibly wide, and deeply lonely in its uninhabited corners.
To understand the world’s geography, you have to start with the biggest piece of the puzzle. Russia isn't just a country on a map; it's a massive, breathing geological entity that anchors the entire northern hemisphere.
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Actionable Next Steps:
- Use a tool like The True Size Of to overlay Russia on your own country to get a visual sense of the scale without map distortion.
- If you're a traveler, look into the Russian E-visa (if available for your nationality) to visit accessible hubs like St. Petersburg or Vladivostok.
- Study the Siberian Permafrost maps provided by organizations like the Arctic Council to see how the landscape is physically changing due to temperature shifts.