Does size matter?

This is a geographic question, not an anatomical one.

Is this much land a benefit? Photo by British Library on Unsplash

Here’s a weird question for you to ponder over the weekend. Does area size matter in the grand scheme of geography? Or, better put, does having more physical land (and water) make your country (or state or province) more successful/wealthy/connected/whatever metric you want to use?

I’d wager that most people think size does matter. Certainly most leaders of countries do. Throughout history, the primary aim of kings, queens, states, empires, and so on was to lay claim to as much land as possible mostly as a way to siphon the natural resources of those lands back to a centralized location. Rome is the obvious example here, but sub out the Roman Empire for any empire throughout history and the pattern repeats itself.