Afghanistan is 1.08× the size of Madagascar

Afghanistan covers about 642,000 km² (248,000 mi²) and Madagascar about 593,000 km² (229,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

642,000km²Afghanistan
593,000km²Madagascar

200 km

Afghanistan
Madagascar

What fits

Madagascar is 92% of the size of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is larger by 49,200 km² (19,000 mi²), which is 8.3% of the area of Madagascar.
Measured in Belgiums: Afghanistan is about 20.9, Madagascar about 19.3.

How they differ

Afghanistan also has the larger population: 41.5 million against 32.0 million, 1.30× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 65 in Afghanistan against 54 in Madagascar: Afghanistan is 1.20× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 6,250 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Afghanistan at 34°N is drawn about 1.4× too large and Madagascar at 19°S about 1.1×, so the map shows Afghanistan as 1.40× the size of Madagascar instead of 1.08×.
Together Afghanistan and Madagascar cover 1,235,000 km², close to the size of Angola (1,245,000 km², 0.8% bigger).
The gap between them, 49,200 km², is about the size of Slovakia (48,500 km²).
At Madagascar's density, Afghanistan would have 34.6 million people (it has 41.5 million). At Afghanistan's density, Madagascar would have 38.3 million (it has 32.0 million).
Afghanistan's centre is 53.1° of latitude, about 5,910 km, farther north than Madagascar's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Afghanistan	1.08×
More people	Afghanistan	1.30×
More crowded	Afghanistan	1.20×
Farther north	Afghanistan	53.1° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Afghanistan	1.4× against 1.1×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Afghanistan	Madagascar
Belgium 30,700 km²	20.9×	19.3×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	2.63×	2.43×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.80×	1.66×
Japan 374,000 km²	1.72×	1.59×
France 548,000 km²	1.17×	1.08×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.20×	0.19×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.08×	0.07×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.07×	0.06×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.04×	0.03×

Each figure is the place's area divided by the yardstick's.

Side by side

	Afghanistan	Madagascar
Area, main territory	642,000 km²248,000 mi²	593,000 km²229,000 mi²
Population	41.5 millionWikidata, 2023	32.0 millionWikidata, 2024
Density	65 per km²	54 per km²
Official area	652,000 km²Wikidata	587,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Kabul	Antananarivo
Latitude range	29°N to 38°N	26°S to 12°S
Continent	Asia	Africa

Population: Wikidata 2023 and Wikidata 2024, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 652,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 642,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 587,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 593,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Afghanistan

Similar in size to Madagascar

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 - Countries, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth. Main territory: the largest landmass and every part within 1,000 km of it.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outlines, shown rounded. Comparisons use main-territory area.
Drawing: Each outline is projected with an equal-area projection centred on its own centroid, so areas stay true and the two can be laid over each other.
Data built: 2026-11-11

Full method