How big is Brazil compared to the United States?

The United States measures about 3,717,811 square miles while Brazil is slightly smaller at about 3,286,486 square miles. Although most map projections understate the size of Brazil compared to the United States, the two countries are actually quite close in terms of total area.

If one only takes into account the contiguous United States, which crucially excludes the 663,300 square miles that comprise the state of Alaska, the United States is slightly smaller than Brazil at 3,043,615 square miles. In terms of population, however, Brazil is a much smaller country with 199 million residents compared to the 314 million living in the United States.