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What is the Longest Country in the World?

Jesse Wright

What is the longest country in the world?

According to the World Factbook, also known as the CIA World Factbook, Chile is the longest north-south trending country in the world, extending across 39 degrees of latitudes.  

  • To put Chile’s length in perspective, this is ~ 1/10 the perimeter of Earth or the distance between Ketchikan, Alaska to the southern tip of Baja California. 

Length of Chile compared to the USA

How long is Chile?

That depends on which source you reference:

  • Wikipedia: 2,653 miles (4,270 km)

  • Encyclopedia Britannica: Approximately 2700 miles (4300 km)

  • ChileCulture.org: 2,700 miles (4,300 km)

  • Official webpage on Chile’s governmental website: 2653 miles (4,270 km)

What about Brazil?

Image Source: www.brazil.gov.br/about-brazil/fact-sheet - No length provided (Brazil is larger than Australia and mainland USA)

Brazil is the second-longest country as it extends across 38 degrees of latitudes (Chile extends across 39).

How long is Brazil?

  • Wikipedia: 2,720 miles (4,378 km) 

  •  Encyclopedia Britannica: Roughly 2700 miles (4300 km) 

  • Official government fact-sheet of Brazil: No length listed

How long is Russia North to South?

  • Wikipedia: 2,800 miles (4,500 km)

  • Encyclopedia Britannica: 1,500 to 2,500 miles (2,500 to 4,000 km)

  • The Embassy of the Russian Federation to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: 1500 miles to 2500 miles (2500 - 4000 km)

Is Chile the longest country in the world?

Non-Mercator Projection Map.

Yes, according to:

  • Kate O’halloran in her geography workbook, Daily Warm-Ups: Geography:

    • “Chile, the world’s longest nation”‌

  • The Jansen and Allen Geographies:

    • “Chile, the southernmost country in the Andean Region, is the longest country on earth”

  • The book Chile by Amoroso & Noyed: 2650 miles (4264 km):

    • “Chile is in South America. It is the longest country in the world”

  • John A Burton’s book The Atlas of Endangered Species:

    • “Chile is the longest country in the world”

  • From the book Living with the Planet by Catherine Von Ruhland:

    • “Chile (the longest country in the world)”

  • Larry Kulchawik says, in his book Trade Shows from One Country to the Next:

    • “Chile is the world’s longest country, from north to south”

  • The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency:

    • (Chile) “the longest north-south trending country in the world, extending across 39 degrees of latitude”

Is Chile the narrowest country in the world?

  • According to the World Atlas, “Chile is the world’s narrowest country.”

    • 217 miles at it’s widest point (350 km)

  • The book of Guinness World Records says:

    • “In terms of comparing its length to its width, the narrowest country is Chile”

    • 108 miles wide (175 km)

  • The book, Countries of the World by Budzik and Basher say:

    • (Chile) “the narrowest country in the world”

  • From the book Elementary Geography:

    • “Chile, the longest and narrowest country in the world”

  • A Brief Commercial Geography says:

    • “Chile is chiefly on the narrow slopes of the Andes, the longest and narrowest country in the world”

How is the length of a country measured?

There is no official length measurements for nations:

  • Length measurements are not part of surface area measurements for countries.

Since there are no official length measurements of countries, I’ll defer to the Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook, which states that Chile is the world’s longest country from north to south.

Jesse is the Director of Pedal Chile and lives in Valdivia. Jesse has a Master of Science in Health and Human Performance and is an avid mountain biker in Chile’s Patagonia. Hobbies: Reading & researching, tasting good beer, and studying maps.

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Sources:

  1. Amoroso, Cynthia, and Robert B Noyed. Chile. Minneapolis, Minn., Compass Point Books, 2002.

  2. Burton, John A. The Atlas of Endangered Species. London, Apple, 2000.

  3. Catherine Von Ruhland. Living with the Planet : Making a Difference in a Time of Climate Change. Oxford, Lion, 2008.

  4. Cia.gov. 2020. South America :: Chile — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency.

  5. Davis, J W, and T H Hughes. Brief Commercial Geography. 1923.

  6. “Fact Sheet.” Brazil, www.brazil.gov.br/about-brazil/fact-sheet.

  7. Guinness World Records. Guinness World Records 2010. London, Guinness World Records, 2010.

  8. Heidi Hayes Jacobs, et al. Western Hemisphere : Geography, History, Culture. Needham, Mass., Prentice Hall, 2003.

  9. https://magnet.cl. “Gob.Cl - Our Country.” Government of Chile, www.gob.cl/nuestro-pais/.

  10. Jansen, William, and Nellie B Allen. The Jansen and Allen Geographies,. Boston, Ginn, 1947.

  11. Joseph, Paul. The Sage Encyclopedia of War : Social Science Perspectives. Thousand Oaks, California, Sage Publications, Inc, 2017.

  12. Kulchawik, Larry. Trade Shows from One Country to the next : A Guide to Recalculate Your Thinking When Marketing in Multiple Countries. New York, Ny, Page Publishing, Inc, 2018.

  13. Mary Frances Budzik, and Simon Basher. Countries of the World. New York, Kingfisher, 2018.

  14. “Neilrkaye (u/Neilrkaye).” Reddit, www.reddit.com/user/neilrkaye/posts/.

  15. Niver, Harmon B. Complete Geography,. New York, Philadelphia Hinds, Hayden, & Eldredge, Inc, 1922.

  16. Niver, Harmon B. Elementary Geography,. New York, Philadelphia Hinds, Hayden, & Eldredge, Inc, 1921.

  17. O’halloran, Kate. Daily Warm-Ups : Geography. Portland, Me., J. Weston Walch, 2003.

  18. “Russian Geography - Regions of Russia.” Посольство России в Великобритании, www.rusemb.org.uk/russiageography/. ‌

  19. Weidmann, Nils B., et al. “The Geography of the International System: The CShapes Dataset.” International Interactions, vol. 36, no. 1, 26 Feb. 2010, pp. 86–106, 10.1080/03050620903554614. ‌