Canada is 1.29× the size of Australia

Canada covers about 9,946,000 km² (3,840,000 mi²) and Australia about 7,691,000 km² (2,970,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

9,946,000km²Canada
7,691,000km²Australia

1,000 km

Canada
Australia

What fits

Australia is 77% of the size of Canada.
Canada is larger by 2,255,000 km² (870,000 mi²), which is 29% of the area of Australia.
Measured in Belgiums: Canada is about 324, Australia about 251.

How they differ

Canada also has the larger population: 37.0 million against 27.6 million, 1.34× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 3.7 in Canada against 3.6 in Australia: Canada is 1.04× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 14,600 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Canada at 60°N is drawn about 4.1× too large and Australia at 26°S about 1.2×, so the map shows Canada as 4.31× the size of Australia instead of 1.29×.
Together Canada and Australia cover 17,637,000 km², close to the size of Russia (16,980,000 km², 3.7% smaller).
The gap between them, 2,255,000 km², is about the size of Algeria (2,309,000 km²).
At Australia's density, Canada would have 35.7 million people (it has 37.0 million). At Canada's density, Australia would have 28.6 million (it has 27.6 million).
Canada's centre is 86.2° of latitude, about 9,580 km, farther north than Australia's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Canada	1.29×
More people	Canada	1.34×
More crowded	Canada	1.04×
Farther north	Canada	86.2° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Canada	4.1× against 1.2×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Canada	Australia
Belgium 30,700 km²	324×	251×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	40.8×	31.5×
Germany 358,000 km²	27.8×	21.5×
Japan 374,000 km²	26.6×	20.6×
France 548,000 km²	18.2×	14.0×
India 3,151,000 km²	3.16×	2.44×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	1.17×	0.91×
United States 9,447,000 km²	1.05×	0.81×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.59×	0.45×

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

Side by side

	Canada	Australia
Area, main territory	9,946,000 km²3,840,000 mi²	7,691,000 km²2,970,000 mi²
Population	37.0 millionWikidata, 2021	27.6 millionWikidata, 2025
Density	3.7 per km²	3.6 per km²
Official area	9,985,000 km²Wikidata	7,688,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Ottawa	Canberra
Latitude range	42°N to 83°N	44°S to 9°S
Continent	North America	Oceania

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

Wikidata's official figure of 9,985,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 9,946,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 7,688,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 7,691,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Canada

Similar in size to Australia

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