Bosnia and Herzegovina is 1.01× the size of Costa Rica

Bosnia and Herzegovina covers about 51,800 km² (20,000 mi²) and Costa Rica about 51,200 km² (19,700 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

51,800km²Bosnia and Herzegovina
51,200km²Costa Rica

100 km

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Costa Rica

What fits

Costa Rica is 99% of the size of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is larger by 675 km² (261 mi²), which is 1.3% of the area of Costa Rica.
Measured in Belgiums: Bosnia and Herzegovina is about 1.69, Costa Rica about 1.67.

How they differ

Bosnia and Herzegovina is larger, but Costa Rica has the larger population: 5.3 million against 3.8 million, 1.38× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 103 in Costa Rica against 74 in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Costa Rica is 1.40× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 10,200 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Bosnia and Herzegovina at 44°N is drawn about 1.9× too large and Costa Rica at 10°N about 1.0×, so the map shows Bosnia and Herzegovina as 1.91× the size of Costa Rica instead of 1.01×.
Together Bosnia and Herzegovina and Costa Rica cover 103,000 km², close to the size of Iceland (102,000 km², 0.6% smaller).
The gap between them, 675 km², is about the size of Bahrain (688 km²).
At Costa Rica's density, Bosnia and Herzegovina would have 5.3 million people (it has 3.8 million). At Bosnia and Herzegovina's density, Costa Rica would have 3.8 million (it has 5.3 million).
Bosnia and Herzegovina's centre is 34.2° of latitude, about 3,800 km, farther north than Costa Rica's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.01×
More people	Costa Rica	1.38×
More crowded	Costa Rica	1.40×
Farther north	Bosnia and Herzegovina	34.2° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.9× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Costa Rica
Belgium 30,700 km²	1.69×	1.67×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	0.21×	0.21×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.14×	0.14×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.14×	0.14×
France 548,000 km²	0.09×	0.09×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.02×	0.02×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.01×	0.01×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.01×	0.01×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	1 in 328	1 in 332

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

Side by side

	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Costa Rica
Area, main territory	51,800 km²20,000 mi²	51,200 km²19,700 mi²
Population	3.8 millionWikidata, 2022	5.3 millionWikidata, 2024
Density	74 per km²	103 per km²
Official area	51,200 km²Wikidata	51,200 km²Wikidata
Capital	Sarajevo	San José
Latitude range	43°N to 45°N	6°N to 11°N
Continent	Europe	North America

Population: Wikidata 2022 and Wikidata 2024, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 51,200 km² agrees with our measured area of 51,800 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 51,200 km² agrees with our measured area of 51,200 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Similar in size to Costa Rica

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