Afghanistan is 1.29× the size of Spain

What fits

• Spain is 78% of the size of Afghanistan.
• Afghanistan is larger by 143,000 km² (55,100 mi²), which is 29% of the area of Spain.
• Measured in Belgiums: Afghanistan is about 20.9, Spain about 16.3.

How they differ

• Afghanistan is larger, but Spain has the larger population: 48.6 million against 41.5 million, 1.17× as many people.
• Per square kilometre that is 96 in Spain against 65 in Afghanistan: Spain is 1.49× as densely populated.
• Their centres are about 6,040 km apart.
• A standard web map misstates the comparison: Afghanistan at 34°N is drawn about 1.4× too large and Spain at 40°N about 1.7×, so the map shows Afghanistan as 1.08× the size of Spain instead of 1.29×.
• Together Afghanistan and Spain cover 1,142,000 km², close to the size of Colombia (1,135,000 km², 0.6% smaller).
• The gap between them, 143,000 km², is about the size of Tajikistan (142,000 km²).
• At Spain's density, Afghanistan would have 61.6 million people (it has 41.5 million). At Afghanistan's density, Spain would have 32.7 million (it has 48.6 million).
• Spain's centre is 6.5° of latitude, about 730 km, farther north than Afghanistan's.

Who wins on what

Both against the same yardsticks

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

Side by side

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 506,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 507,000 km², to within 2%.

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