In the introduction to my book, “50 of the Greatest Trivia Questions Ever Asked” I point out that even a question such as this, which seems like one with a clear answer, really isn’t.  Depending on which source you use, either China or the U.S. is the third largest country in area.  There is no disputing that Russia is the largest and Canada is second.

I contacted a professor of geography at Michigan State who e-mailed me that there is no way to absolutely determine which has more square miles, China or the U.S., since it depends on the technical definition of what amount territorial water can be counted.  What can be answered authoritatively is that China has a minutely larger land mass (3.69 million square miles to 3.68 million square miles).  You can see this most clearly on the web page http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/china/geog/M_USCH1.htm which is affiliated with Columbia University (my alma mater).  Her a map is displayed with the China land mass superimposed over the land mass of the U.S.

There are reputable resources making a claim for each country actually being larger when land plus water territority is included.

Another tricky geography question is “What are the Northenmost, Southernmost, Westernmost, and Easternmost states in the U.S.?

Hint:  The trick part is the Easternmost

For the answer, e-mail me, doug@spiritedevents.com