Central African Republic is 1.24× the size of Spain

Central African Republic covers about 618,000 km² (239,000 mi²) and Spain about 499,000 km² (193,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

618,000km²Central African Republic
499,000km²Spain

500 km

Central African Republic
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 81% of the size of Central African Republic.
Central African Republic is larger by 119,000 km² (45,800 mi²), which is 24% of the area of Spain.
Measured in Belgiums: Central African Republic is about 20.1, Spain about 16.3.

How they differ

Central African Republic is larger, but Spain has the larger population: 48.6 million against 5.2 million, 9.43× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 96 in Spain against 8.3 in Central African Republic: Spain is 11.5× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 4,450 km apart.
On a standard web map Spain looks larger than Central African Republic: Central African Republic at 7°N is drawn about 1.0× too large and Spain at 40°N about 1.7×, so the map shows Spain as 1.37× the size of Central African Republic, when Central African Republic is 1.24× the size of Spain.
Together Central African Republic and Spain cover 1,117,000 km², close to the size of Ethiopia (1,127,000 km², 0.9% bigger).
The gap between them, 119,000 km², is about the size of Malawi (119,000 km²).
At Spain's density, Central African Republic would have 59.2 million people (it has 5.2 million). At Central African Republic's density, Spain would have 4.2 million (it has 48.6 million).
Spain's centre is 33.8° of latitude, about 3,760 km, farther north than Central African Republic's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Central African Republic	1.24×
More people	Spain	9.43×
More crowded	Spain	11.5×
Farther north	Spain	33.8° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Spain	1.7× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Central African Republic	Spain
Belgium 30,700 km²	20.1×	16.3×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	2.53×	2.05×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.73×	1.40×
Japan 374,000 km²	1.65×	1.34×
France 548,000 km²	1.13×	0.91×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.20×	0.16×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.07×	0.06×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.07×	0.05×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.04×	0.03×

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

Side by side

	Central African Republic	Spain
Area, main territory	618,000 km²239,000 mi²	499,000 km²193,000 mi²
Area with overseas territory	618,000 km²	507,000 km²
Population	5.2 millionWikidata, 2023	48.6 millionWikidata, 2024
Density	8.3 per km²	96 per km²
Official area	623,000 km²Wikidata	506,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Bangui	Madrid
Latitude range	2°N to 11°N	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 623,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 618,000 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 Central African Republic

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