Africa · Middle Africa

Central African Republic

Central African Republic covers about 618,000 km² (239,000 mi²), the 44th largest of the 246 places listed here. That is close to South Sudan, at about 627,000 km².

618,000km²Area, main territory
5.2 millionPopulation
20.1In Belgiums

500 km

Central African Republic

Facts

Area, main territory	618,000 km²239,000 mi²
Official area	623,000 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure
In Belgiums	20.1
Capital	Bangui
Population	5.2 millionWikidata, 2023
Density	8.3 people per km²
Latitude range	2°N to 11°N
In other languages	República Centroafricana Español · Zentralafrikanische Republik Deutsch · République centrafricaine Français · República Centro-Africana Português · 中央アフリカ共和国日本語 · 中非共和国中文 · 중앙아프리카 공화국 한국어
Continent	Africa#19 of 54 countries by area

What the numbers say about Central African Republic

Russia, the largest place listed, is 27.5× the size of Central African Republic.
Central African Republic ranks 43rd of 239 by area but only 122nd of 237 by population: it holds fewer people than its size suggests.
At 8.3 people per km², Central African Republic is the 168th most densely populated of the 185 places over 1,000 km²; the median is 72 per km².
Central African Republic lies at 7°N, close to the equator, where a standard web map (Web Mercator) is nearly true to size: it inflates area by only about 1.0×.
Laid out flat, Central African Republic's main territory stretches about 972 km north to south and 1,440 km east to west.
Wikidata's official figure of 623,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 618,000 km², to within 2%.

How Central African Republic measures up

Central African Republic holds 2.1% of the land area and 0.4% of the people of the 54 countries listed for Africa. In Middle Africa it is the 4th largest of 9.

Where it ranks	Figure	Position
Area	618,000 km²	43rd of 239
Population	5.2 million	122nd of 237
Density	8.3 per km²	168th of 185
Farthest north	6.6°N	156th of 212

Compared with	Its area	Central African Republic is
Belgium	30,700 km²	20.1× its size
United Kingdom	244,000 km²	2.53× its size
Germany	358,000 km²	1.73× its size
Japan	374,000 km²	1.65× its size
France	548,000 km²	1.13× its size
India	3,151,000 km²	0.20× its size
Brazil	8,473,000 km²	0.07× its size
United States	9,447,000 km²	0.07× its size
Russia	16,980,000 km²	0.04× its size

Where Central African Republic sits

Central African Republic's centre lies at 6.6°N, 20.5°E, in the northern and eastern hemispheres, about 730 km from the equator.
Its main territory spans 2°N to 11°N, about 970 km from its southern edge to its northern.

Closest neighbours, by distance between centres

On the same latitude, elsewhere in the world

If Central African Republic had other densities

At Bangladesh's density of 1,252 people per km², Central African Republic would have 774.0 million people. It has 5.2 million.
At Canada's density of 3.7 people per km², Central African Republic would have 2.3 million people. It has 5.2 million.
At the median density of the places listed, 72 per km², it would have 44.7 million.

About the same size as

Largest in Africa

Democratic Republic of the Congo2,325,000 km²
Algeria2,309,000 km²
Sudan1,856,000 km²
Libya1,624,000 km²
Chad1,266,000 km²
Central African Republic#19 · 618,000 km²

Compare Central African Republic

Sources and method

Outline: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 - Countries, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded
Official figures: Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-11
Population: Wikidata, 2023; covers the whole country, overseas territory included
Data built: 2026-11-11

Full method