Giant regions: the biggest states and provinces

The giants

Sakha (Yakutia), in Russia's far east, is the biggest: about 3,053,000 km², and only seven countries are larger.^[1][3] Western Australia is next at about 2,533,000 km², bigger than all but nine.^[1][3]

Six countries supply the twelve biggest: Russia, Australia, Canada, the United States, China and Brazil.^[1][2] Alaska is the biggest American state, at 1,723,000 km² counting its water, but it would only come sixth here.^[2]

#	Region	Area	Countries bigger
1	Sakha (Yakutia), Russia	3,053,000 km²	7
2	Western Australia, Australia	2,533,000 km²	9
3	Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia	2,314,000 km²	11
4	Nunavut, Canada	2,065,000 km²	12
5	Queensland, Australia	1,734,000 km²	16
6	Alaska, United States	1,723,000 km²	16
7	Xinjiang, China	1,628,000 km²	17
8	Amazonas, Brazil	1,573,000 km²	17
9	Quebec, Canada	1,499,000 km²	18
10	Northern Territory, Australia	1,352,000 km²	18
11	Northwest Territories, Canada	1,340,000 km²	18
12	Pará, Brazil	1,236,000 km²	23

Country by country

Inside a country, the biggest and smallest regions can be very different things: a vast province of forest or tundra, and a capital city that is a region of its own.^[1] The smallest is often a city that is a region in its own right: Bremen in Germany, Mexico City in Mexico, Saint Petersburg in Russia, Shanghai in China and Oslo in Norway.^[1]

#	Country	Regions	Biggest	Smallest
1	Russia	83	Sakha (Yakutia)	Saint Petersburg
2	Australia	8	Western Australia	Australian Capital Territory
3	Canada	13	Nunavut	Prince Edward Island
4	United States	50	Alaska	Rhode Island
5	China	31	Xinjiang	Shanghai
6	Brazil	27	Amazonas	Federal District
7	Mexico	32	Chihuahua	Mexico City
8	Sweden	21	Norrbotten	Blekinge
9	Finland	19	Lapland	Åland
10	Japan	47	Hokkaido	Kagawa
11	Germany	16	Bavaria	Bremen
12	Norway	15	Innlandet	Oslo
13	New Zealand	16	Canterbury	Nelson
14	Iceland	8	South Iceland	Southern Peninsula
15	Denmark	5	Central Denmark	Capital Region of Denmark

One level down

The maps of the United Kingdom and Ireland, France, Italy and Spain go a level lower, to counties, departments and provinces.^[1] The biggest of those are Highland in the United Kingdom, Badajoz in Spain, Gironde in France, Bolzano in Italy and Cork in Ireland.^[1]

#	Country	Divisions	Biggest	Smallest
1	United Kingdom	107	Highland	Dundee
2	Spain	50	Badajoz	Gipuzkoa
3	France	96	Gironde	Paris
4	Italy	110	Bolzano	Trieste
5	Ireland	26	Cork	Louth