[astine]

No, America (meaning the USA) is somewhat smaller than Europe, especially if you count European Russia, another country whose size is often underestimated. Though, it is helpful to realize that the United States is, in fact, larger in terms of landmass than China, and is exceeded only by Canada (the other North American Anglo democracy, much of whose land is largely empty due to the extreme cold) and by Russia, (another country with a lot cold, mostly unused land.)

Russia, even in its post Soviet scaled-back state, is in fact largely an empire. Most of its land was conquered from indigenous peoples who still inhabit it, this it not too different from both the United States and Canada, though the circumstances are somewhat different.

[wardrox]

It's smaller, yes, but not by much. The USA is 9.8 million km^2 and Europe is 10.2 million km^2. Though that does include Alaska.

I think the thing that took me the longest to "get" was simply the distances between things. If you'd asked me a few years ago how far one coast of the USA is from the other, I'd probably guess at around a thousand miles. Top to bottom maybe 500.

Mind you I also didn't realise Washington wasn't in Washington state.

[fortes]

> it is helpful to realize that the United States is, in fact, larger in terms of landmass than China

True, although the difference between the US and China is about 1% or so -- they are practically the same size.

And since Alaska is a sixth of the US, China is much larger than the continental US.

[jodrellblank]

Russia, another country whose size is often underestimated.

How come Russia is /so big/?