Afghanistan is 1.02× the size of South Sudan

Afghanistan covers about 642,000 km² (248,000 mi²) and South Sudan about 627,000 km² (242,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

642,000km²Afghanistan
627,000km²South Sudan

500 km

Afghanistan
South Sudan

What fits

South Sudan is 98% of the size of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is larger by 15,300 km² (5,920 mi²), which is 2.4% of the area of South Sudan.
Measured in Belgiums: Afghanistan is about 20.9, South Sudan about 20.4.

How they differ

Afghanistan also has the larger population: 41.5 million against 12.6 million, 3.30× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 65 in Afghanistan against 20 in South Sudan: Afghanistan is 3.22× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 4,700 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Afghanistan at 34°N is drawn about 1.4× too large and South Sudan at 7°N about 1.0×, so the map shows Afghanistan as 1.46× the size of South Sudan instead of 1.02×.
Together Afghanistan and South Sudan cover 1,269,000 km², close to the size of Chad (1,266,000 km², 0.2% smaller).
The gap between them, 15,300 km², is about the size of East Timor (15,100 km²).
At South Sudan's density, Afghanistan would have 12.9 million people (it has 41.5 million). At Afghanistan's density, South Sudan would have 40.5 million (it has 12.6 million).
Afghanistan's centre is 26.5° of latitude, about 2,950 km, farther north than South Sudan's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Afghanistan	1.02×
More people	Afghanistan	3.30×
More crowded	Afghanistan	3.22×
Farther north	Afghanistan	26.5° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Afghanistan	1.4× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Afghanistan	South Sudan
Belgium 30,700 km²	20.9×	20.4×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	2.63×	2.57×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.80×	1.75×
Japan 374,000 km²	1.72×	1.68×
France 548,000 km²	1.17×	1.14×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.20×	0.20×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.08×	0.07×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.07×	0.07×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.04×	0.04×

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

Side by side

	Afghanistan	South Sudan
Area, main territory	642,000 km²248,000 mi²	627,000 km²242,000 mi²
Population	41.5 millionWikidata, 2023	12.6 millionWikidata, 2017
Density	65 per km²	20 per km²
Official area	652,000 km²Wikidata	644,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Kabul	Juba
Latitude range	29°N to 38°N	3°N to 12°N
Continent	Asia	Africa

Population: Wikidata 2023 and Wikidata 2017, 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%.
Our measured 627,000 km² is 2.7% below Wikidata's official figure of 644,000 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently.

Similar in size to Afghanistan

Similar in size to South Sudan

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