State of Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia. It covers about 984,000 km² (380,000 mi²), the 4th largest of the 8 states and territories in Natural Earth’s file for Australia, and about the same size as Egypt. About 1.9 million people live there (Wikidata, 2024).
200 km
- Egypt
- South Australia
Facts
| Area, measured | 984,000 km²380,000 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 984,000 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure |
| Share of Australia | 13%of the area of the 8 states and territories |
| Rank by area | 4th of 8states and territories of Australia |
| Population | 1.9 millionWikidata, 2024 |
| Density | 1.9 people per km² |
| Capital | Adelaide |
| Latitude range | 38°S to 26°S |
| Type | StateAU-SA |
What the numbers say about South Australia
- South Australia covers 13% of the area of Australia and ranks 5th of 8 by population, against 4th by area.
- It would take 7.82 states and territories the size of South Australia to cover Australia.
- The largest, Western Australia, is 2.57× the size of South Australia; the smallest, Australian Capital Territory, is 0.2% of it.
- Closest in size within Australia: New South Wales (802,000 km², 1.23×) and Northern Territory (1,348,000 km², 1.37×).
- Counted as a country, South Australia would be larger than 209 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 31st by area, between Egypt (1,001,000 km²) and Tanzania (942,000 km²).
- With 1.9 million people it would rank 149th of 238 by population.
- South Australia has 1.9 people per km², about the density of Mongolia, which has 2.2 per km².
- That makes South Australia the 6th most densely populated of the 8 states and territories, 54% of the average for Australia (3.6 per km²).
- On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 30°S is drawn about 1.3× too large in area, so South Australia looks bigger there than it is.
- Laid out flat, South Australia stretches about 1,340 km north to south and 1,200 km east to west.
- Wikidata's official figure of 984,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 984,000 km², to within 2%.
About the same size as
Beside the regions of other countries
The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.
- ChinaAreaTibet87% · 1,130,000 km²PeopleTibet52% · 3.6 million (2020)
- United StatesAreaTexas1.44× · 685,000 km²PeopleIdaho1.03× · 1.8 million (2020)
- IndiaAreanone within 2×PeopleNagaland0.96× · 2.0 million (2011)
- GermanyAreanone within 2×PeopleHamburg1.00× · 1.9 million (2022)
- FranceAreanone within 2×PeopleCentre-Val de Loire73% · 2.6 million (2022)
- ItalyAreanone within 2×PeopleCalabria0.97× · 1.9 million (2019)
- SpainAreanone within 2×PeopleCastilla–La Mancha0.90× · 2.1 million (2024)
- JapanAreanone within 2×PeopleOkayama1.01× · 1.9 million (2021)
- BrazilAreaMato Grosso1.09× · 903,000 km²PeopleSergipe86% · 2.2 million (2022)
- CanadaAreaBritish Columbia1.04× · 946,000 km²PeopleManitoba1.41× · 1.3 million (2021)
- MexicoAreanone within 2×PeopleQuintana Roo1.02× · 1.9 million (2020)
- ThailandAreanone within 2×PeopleUbon Ratchathani1.01× · 1.9 million (2020)
Where South Australia sits in Australia
All 8 drawn on one equal-area map, so sizes are comparable. Select another to open it.
Compare South Australia
- Inner Mongolia vs South Australia
- Tibet vs South Australia
- Ontario vs South Australia
- Egypt vs South Australia
- South Australia vs Tanzania
- South Australia vs Nigeria
- South Australia vs Guinea-Bissau
- South Australia vs Ukraine
- South Australia vs British Columbia
- South Australia vs Mato Grosso
- South Australia vs Texas
- South Australia vs Quintana Roo
- South Australia vs Okayama
- South Australia vs Hamburg
- South Australia vs Ubon Ratchathani
- South Australia vs Tochigi
Share this outline
Sources and method
- Outline
- Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
- Boundary
- De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
- Area
- Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
- Official figures
- Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
- Population
- Wikidata, 2024. Australia’s units share the 2024 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
- Matching
- Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
- Data built
- 2026-11-12