Further explanation of disputed ranking: The dispute for world's third-largest country arose from the inclusion of coastal and territorial waters for the United States. This discrepancy was deduced from comparing the CIA World Factbook and its previous iterations against the information for United States on Encyclopædia Britannica, particularly its footnote section. In sum, according to older versions of the CIA World Factbook (from 1982 to 1996), the US was listed as the world's fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and China) with a total area of 9,372,610 sq km. However, in the 1997 edition, the US added coastal waters to its total area (increasing it to 9,629,091 sq km). And then again in 2007, US added territorial water to its total area (increasing it to 9,833,517 sq km). During this time, China's total area remained unchanged. In other words, no coastal or territorial water area was added to China's total area figure. The United States has a coastal water area of 109,362 sq km, and a territorial water area of 195,213 sq km, for a total of 304,575 sq km of additional water space. This is larger than entire countries like Italy, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Adding this figure to the US will boost it over China in ranking since China's coastal and territorial water figures are currently unknown (no official publication) and thus cannot be added into China's total area figure.
大致意思是,由于美国把许多的水体面积(coastal and territorial waters)都加了进来,导致其面积不断地增加。(真·注水)
早期 (from 1982 to 1996),美国的官方面积是9,372,610 sq km,确实是比中国(哪怕不算争议地区)小的。
但是,1997年,美国加上了近海(coastal waters),增至9,629,091 sq km。再到2007年,加上了领水(territorial water),增至9,833,517 sq km。
这个时期,中国的面积却从未改变,没有近海或领水的面积的补充,且官方也是藏着掖着不公开,没有任何具体情报。而美国就连续补充了109,362 sq km的近海面积(coastal water area)和195,213 sq km的领水面积(territorial water area),合计304,575 sq km的水体(water space)。这增加的面积超过了像意呆、新西兰、腐国这样的国家。于是,美国的面积就这样超过了一成不变的的中国了。