Soviet Union vs USA: How Much Bigger Was It?

The Soviet Union covered about 22 million km² from 1960 to 1990. That is roughly 2.7 times the 48 contiguous US states (about 8.1 million km²) and 2.2 times the whole United States with Alaska and Hawaii (about 9.83 million km²). TrueSize measures the Soviet Union from its historical outline and lets you set it beside today's USA.

The Soviet Union (1960 to 1990 snapshot) and the 48 contiguous US states side by side on the equator, each at its true size.

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The numbers

Region	Area	Ratio to the 48 contiguous states
Soviet Union, 1960 to 1990	22.02 million km² (measured in TrueSize)	about 2.7 times
Russian Empire, 1914	21.83 million km² (measured in TrueSize)	about 2.7 times
Modern Russia	about 17.1 million km²	about 2.1 times
United States, with Alaska and Hawaii	about 9.83 million km²	about 1.2 times
48 contiguous US states	about 8.1 million km²	1

The Soviet Union covered about 15% of all land on Earth. Its area shrank by more than a fifth when it dissolved in 1991 and Russia became an independent country.

Why normal maps get this wrong

On a Mercator map, the distance between latitude lines grows toward the poles, so everything that lies far north is stretched. Most of the Soviet Union lay between 45 and 75 degrees north, so on a classroom map it looks even bigger than it was. The 48 contiguous states, at 25 to 49 degrees north, are stretched less.

TrueSize does the opposite. It keeps the true area as you drag a region, so when you pull the Soviet Union south and set it beside the USA, you see the real difference. Side by side on the equator, the Soviet Union is about 2.7 times as large as the 48 contiguous states.

The same row on the globe.

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Try it yourself

1. In the Home tab, switch the map to Historical, set the year to 1960 with Go to year, and search for the Soviet Union.
2. Pin it, click Today to return to the present, then search for Contiguous 48 (the 48 contiguous US states). A pinned region stays in the era it was loaded from.
3. Drag both to the equator and set them side by side. Open Style and click Globe for the 3D view.

The timeline and globe work on the web version, and the timeline is also in the mobile app.

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More comparisons

• Roman Empire at true size
• The largest empires in history
• The Soviet Union was bigger than Pluto
• Historical Borders Map: See Any Country's Borders by Year

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