Water, Water Everywhere

Updated July 24, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

The Question:

Do you know the percentage of the earth's surface covered by water?

The Answer:

About 70.8% of the Earth's surface is covered by water. Here's the breakdown on land and water versus total area.

  • Total area: 510.072 million sq km (196.93 million sq mi.).
  • Land area: 148.94 million sq km (57.50 sq mi.).
  • Water area: 361.132 million sq km (139.43 sq mi.).
  • Comparative area: land area about 15 times the size of the United States.

For further statistics, see our Profile of the World.

-The Editors

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