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How large is Earth compared with the other planets in the solar system?
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Earth
A composite image of Earth captured by instruments aboard NASA's Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite, 2012.
Earth is the fifth-largest planet in the solar system, with an equatorial diameter of approximately 12,756 kilometers (7,926 miles).1
Within the solar system, Earth holds the following position regarding size:
- Terrestrial Planets: Earth is the largest of the four inner, rocky terrestrial planets, which also include Mercury, Venus, and Mars.2
- Giant Planets: Earth is considerably smaller than the four outer giant planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. For instance, Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, with a diameter more than 11 times that of Earth.23
While Earth is often described as a sphere, it is technically an oblate spheroid, meaning it is slightly flattened at the poles and bulges at the Equator.1