Video Imagines How Big Countries Would Be as Planets

There’s something about comparing the sizes of unthinkably large objects that’s endlessly intriguing. Looking at a comparison of all the various sizes of stars in the universe, for example, makes for some stellar whoa! moments. Now, we have here another comparison, and this time it’s countries measuring up against each other. That is, measuring up against each other in terms of size—if they were planets.

The YouTube channel, MetaBallStudios (or MBS), posted the video of the unique, terrestrially cosmic comparison. MBS, a channel created and run by a Spanish 3D animator named Alvaro, posted the video noting that it specifically compares different countries’ surface areas. Unfortunately, MBS couldn’t fit every country in the comparison, but the largest ones are indeed all there.

Speaking of size, the planet-countries begin with the relatively minuscule Vatican City, and then grow from there. And while the “planets” only seem to gradually increase in size, the surface area differences are truly astonishing. Russia, for example, is roughly three million times larger than Monaco, with the former spanning 6.6 million square miles, and the latter just 1.4 square miles.

MetaBallStudios

Even the sizes of the largest countries on Earth provide for some unique context while they’re in their planetary form. Aside from Russia—the largest country in the world—the US, China, and Canada are all within a few hundred thousand square miles of each other. (And Canada’s surface area is larger than both superpowers’!)

For those now in the mood to compare more random, gigantic objects, there are many other MBS videos that’d be right up your alley. Like this comparison of different sci-fi starships from films and television. Or this one comparing the sizes of different moons in the solar system. Incidentally, it seems that Russia is almost as large as our own moon, which really helps to put the enormity of Earth in perspective.

Feature image: MetaBallStudios