What is the Size of America?

The size of America is 9,826,675 km2 (or 3,794,101 sq miles). The water area is 6.75%. Its population (2009 estimate) was 307,831,000. The density is 31/km2 or 90 sq mi. The capital is Washington D.C. The largest city is New York City.

Geographical Information

The contiguous land area is 1.9 billion acres (770 million hectares). The biggest state is Alaska at 663,268 sq mi (1,717,854 km2). The smallest state is Rhode Island at 1,545 sq mi (about 4,002 km2).

Alaska is equal to 365 million acres alone (150 million hectares). In terms of size, Hawaii is about 4 million acres (1.6 milion hectares). The coordinates are 33 degrees 00’ N and 97 degrees 00 W.

The entire country is about half the size of Russia. It is about 3/10 the size of the African continent. It is a little bigger than China and double the size of the European Union.

Population Demographics

The size of America’s population given earlier includes at least 11 million illegal immigrants. Its population growth is 0.8% and is the third most populated country after India and China. White Americans comprise 79% of the estimated population.

Hispanic Americans make up 15% followed by African Americans at 12.8%. Asian Americans make up 4.5% of the population. Multiracial races make up 1.7%. The rest are divided among Native Americans, Native Hawaiian, Alaska Native and Pacific Islander.

Population Centers

80% of Americans reside in urban areas, with 50% of the cities having populations of over 50,000. 273 incorporated places have populations exceeding 100,000. 52 metropolitan areas have populations exceeding a million. The sizes of America’s cities (as of 2008) are as follows.

New York City in New York has a population of 8,363,710, the most in the US. It is followed by Los Angeles, California with 3,833,995 while Chicago, Illinois is at number three with 2,853,114. The fourth most populated city is Houston, Texas with 2,242,193. At number five is Phoenix, Arizona with 1,567,924.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is at number six with a population of 1,447,395 followed by San Antonio, Texas with 1,351,305 residents. Dallas, Texas is at number eight with 1,279,910. San Diego in California is the ninth most heavily populated city with 1,279,329 and San Jose is tenth with 948,279.

Natural Features

The large area size of America has given it a very diverse topography and landscape. It has the Mississippi River, the fourth longest in the world. It goes from north to south in various states.

The Rocky Mountains reaches heights of over 14,000 ft (nearly 4,300 m). Mount McKinley in Alaska is the tallest mountain at 20,230 ft. the lowest point is Death Valley at -86 m. The arable land is 19% and the irrigated land measures 223,860 sq km.

Climate

Most of the country is temperate but some areas are tropical (like Hawaii). It is generally arid near the southwest. The northwest areas are noted for low temperatures during the winter season.
 
The size of America’s population and area is well matched by its ecology. There are 1,800 plant species, 400 types of mammals, 91,000 insect species 750 birds and over 500 reptiles.