Botswana is 1.16× the size of Spain

Botswana covers about 579,000 km² (224,000 mi²) and Spain about 499,000 km² (193,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

579,000km²Botswana
499,000km²Spain

200 km

Botswana
Spain

Outlines show main territory. Spain also has about 7,440 km² of overseas territory. These are not drawn, and not counted in the comparison.

What fits

Spain is 86% of the size of Botswana.
Botswana is larger by 79,600 km² (30,700 mi²), which is 16% of the area of Spain.
Measured in Belgiums: Botswana is about 18.9, Spain about 16.3.

How they differ

Botswana is larger, but Spain has the larger population: 48.6 million against 2.5 million, 19.6× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 96 in Spain against 4.3 in Botswana: Spain is 22.4× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 7,510 km apart.
On a standard web map Spain looks larger than Botswana: Botswana at 22°S is drawn about 1.2× too large and Spain at 40°N about 1.7×, so the map shows Spain as 1.27× the size of Botswana, when Botswana is 1.16× the size of Spain.
Together Botswana and Spain cover 1,078,000 km², close to the size of Bolivia (1,087,000 km², 0.8% bigger).
The gap between them, 79,600 km², is about the size of Czechia (78,800 km²).
At Spain's density, Botswana would have 55.5 million people (it has 2.5 million). At Botswana's density, Spain would have 2.2 million (it has 48.6 million).
Spain's centre is 62.5° of latitude, about 6,950 km, farther north than Botswana's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Botswana	1.16×
More people	Spain	19.6×
More crowded	Spain	22.4×
Farther north	Spain	62.5° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Spain	1.7× against 1.2×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Botswana	Spain
Belgium 30,700 km²	18.9×	16.3×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	2.38×	2.05×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.62×	1.40×
Japan 374,000 km²	1.55×	1.34×
France 548,000 km²	1.06×	0.91×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.18×	0.16×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.07×	0.06×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.06×	0.05×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.03×	0.03×

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

Side by side

	Botswana	Spain
Area, main territory	579,000 km²224,000 mi²	499,000 km²193,000 mi²
Area with overseas territory	579,000 km²	507,000 km²
Population	2.5 millionWikidata, 2023	48.6 millionWikidata, 2024
Density	4.3 per km²	96 per km²
Official area	582,000 km²Wikidata	506,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Gaborone	Madrid
Latitude range	27°S to 18°S	35°N to 44°N
Continent	Africa	Europe

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

Wikidata's official figure of 582,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 579,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 506,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 507,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Botswana

Similar in size to Spain

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