Africa is 3.01× the size of Canada

Africa covers about 29,888,000 km² (11,540,000 mi²) and Canada about 9,946,000 km² (3,840,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

29,888,000km²Africa
9,946,000km²Canada

2,000 km

Africa
Canada

What fits

Canada fits inside Africa about 3.01 times by area.
Africa is larger by 19,943,000 km² (7,700,000 mi²), which is 201% of the area of Canada.
Measured in Belgiums: Africa is about 975, Canada about 324.

How they differ

Africa also has the larger population: 1.55 billion against 37.0 million, 41.9× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 52 in Africa against 3.7 in Canada: Africa is 13.9× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 10,700 km apart.
On a standard web map Canada looks larger than Africa: Africa at 7°N is drawn about 1.0× too large and Canada at 60°N about 4.1×, so the map shows Canada as 1.35× the size of Africa, when Africa is 3.01× the size of Canada.
The gap between them, 19,943,000 km², is about the size of Russia (16,980,000 km²).
At Canada's density, Africa would have 111.2 million people (it has 1.55 billion). At Africa's density, Canada would have 515.7 million (it has 37.0 million).
Canada's centre is 53.9° of latitude, about 5,990 km, farther north than Africa's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Africa	3.01×
More people	Africa	41.9×
More crowded	Africa	13.9×
Farther north	Canada	53.9° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Canada	4.1× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Africa	Canada
Belgium 30,700 km²	975×	324×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	123×	40.8×
Germany 358,000 km²	83.6×	27.8×
Japan 374,000 km²	80.0×	26.6×
France 548,000 km²	54.6×	18.2×
India 3,151,000 km²	9.49×	3.16×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	3.53×	1.17×
United States 9,447,000 km²	3.16×	1.05×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	1.76×	0.59×

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

Side by side

	Africa	Canada
Area, main territory	29,888,000 km²11,540,000 mi²	9,946,000 km²3,840,000 mi²
Population	1.55 billionWikidata, 2025	37.0 millionWikidata, 2021
Density	52 per km²	3.7 per km²
Official area	29,648,000 km²Wikidata	9,985,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	–	Ottawa
Latitude range	35°S to 37°N	42°N to 83°N
Continent	Africa	North America

Population: Wikidata 2025 and Wikidata 2021, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 29,648,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 29,889,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 9,985,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 9,946,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Africa

Similar in size to Canada

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