The largest country in Europe by area is Russia. Its European part alone covers approximately 3,952,550 square kilometers, making it the largest country on the continent by a significant margin

. Russia also holds the distinction of being the largest country in the world overall, with a total area of about 17 million square kilometers spanning both Europe and Asia

. For comparison, the second largest country in Europe is Ukraine, with an area of about 603,549 square kilometers, which is much smaller than the European part of Russia

. Thus, Russia is the largest country in Europe by a wide margin.