Paper Sizes - Relative Comparison
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A Series Paper
Paper in the A series format has a 
aspect ratio, although this is rounded to the nearest millimetre. A0 is defined so that it has an area of 1 m², prior to the above mentioned rounding. Successive paper sizes in the series (A1, A2, A3, etc.) are defined by halving the preceding paper size, cutting parallel to its shorter side (so that the long side of A(n+1) is the same length as the short side of An, again prior to rounding).
B Series Paper
The B series are defined in the standard as follows: "A subsidiary series of sizes is obtained by placing the geometrical means between adjacent sizes of the A series in sequence.". The use of the geometric mean means that each step in size: B0, A0, B1, A1, B2 ... is smaller than the previous by an equal scaling. in a similar manner to the A series; the lengths of the B series still have the ratio 
, and folding one in half gives the next in the series. The shorter side of B0 is exactly 1m.
C Series Paper
The C series formats are geometric means between the B series and A series formats with the same number, (e.g., C2 is the geometric mean between B2 and A2). The C series formats are used mainly for envelopes. An A4 page will fit into a C4 envelope. C series envelopes follow the same ratio principle as the A series pages. For example, if an A4 page is folded in half so that it is A5 in size, it will fit into a C5 envelope (which will be the same size as a C4 envelope folded in half).
Letter Size Comparison with A Series Paper
Letter or US Letter is the most common paper size for office use in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It is 8½ by 11 inches (215.9 mm × 279.4 mm). Unlike the A4 international standard (ISO) paper sizes which are used in most countries in the world today, the origin of the dimensions of letter size paper are lost in tradition. The American Forest and Paper Association argues that the dimension originates from the days of manual paper making, and that the 11-inch length of the page is about a quarter of "the average maximum stretch of an experienced vatman's arms".
Source: Wikipedia Article - ISO 216