This Tiny Country Controls 11 Million km² of Ocean

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]I bet you $5 you get this geography question wrong. Which country controls the largest amount of ocean territory on Earth? If you guessed America, Russia, or China, you lose. The real winner is 17 times smaller than the United States.

[00:00:13]How? Because of a legal loophole called an EEZ. Any country with a coastline can claim up to 200 nautical miles, around 370 km, of ocean from its shores. That means tiny islands and overseas territories can create massive ocean claims. Now the geography nerds are thinking Sweden, Norway, or Finland because they have the most islands on Earth. But you lose again because those thousands of Nordic islands are all crowded together right next to their own coastlines.

[00:00:40]>> [music] >> So the real winner is a country that kept its old colonial islands scattered across every single ocean on Earth. That country is France.

[00:00:47]>> [music] >> They quietly control 11 million square kilometers of water. Be honest in the comments, which trap did you fall into?