Russia is the largest country on Earth and actually does have a greater surface area than Pluto, which is a main reason why it was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006. The surface area of Russia is approximately 6.6 million square miles (17 million sq km), while Pluto’s surface area is 6.4 million square miles (16.7 million sq km). The country has a population of approximately 142 million people. Nearly three-quarters of Russians live in cities, leaving the vast amount of the country’s significant surface area hardly populated due to its harsh cold climates and being mostly covered with trees.
More about Russia:
- Russia contains one-fifth of the world’s total forests. It also is home to the deepest lake in the world, Lake Baikal with a depth of 5,387 feet (1,641.96 m), which contains one-fifth of the world’s supply of fresh water.
- All of Russia’s combined pipelines, such as for gas and oil water, would theoretically be able to circle the Earth six times.
- There are nine different time zones that stretch across two continents in Russia, the most of any country in the world.