Chad is 1.01× the size of Mali

Chad covers about 1,266,000 km² (489,000 mi²) and Mali about 1,253,000 km² (484,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

1,266,000km²Chad
1,253,000km²Mali

500 km

Chad
Mali

What fits

Mali is 99% of the size of Chad.
Chad is larger by 13,600 km² (5,240 mi²), which is 1.1% of the area of Mali.
Measured in Belgiums: Chad is about 41.3, Mali about 40.8.

How they differ

Chad is larger, but Mali has the larger population: 22.4 million against 19.3 million, 1.16× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 18 in Mali against 15 in Chad: Mali is 1.17× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 2,380 km apart.
On a standard web map Mali looks larger than Chad: Chad at 15°N is drawn about 1.1× too large and Mali at 17°N about 1.1×, so the map shows Mali as 1.01× the size of Chad, when Chad is 1.01× the size of Mali.
Together Chad and Mali cover 2,519,000 km², close to the size of Kazakhstan (2,714,000 km², 7.8% bigger).
The gap between them, 13,600 km², is about the size of Montenegro (13,700 km²).
At Mali's density, Chad would have 22.6 million people (it has 19.3 million). At Chad's density, Mali would have 19.1 million (it has 22.4 million).
Mali's centre is 2.0° of latitude, about 230 km, farther north than Chad's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Chad	1.01×
More people	Mali	1.16×
More crowded	Mali	1.17×
Farther north	Mali	2.0° of latitude

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Chad	Mali
Belgium 30,700 km²	41.3×	40.8×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	5.19×	5.14×
Germany 358,000 km²	3.54×	3.50×
Japan 374,000 km²	3.39×	3.35×
France 548,000 km²	2.31×	2.29×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.40×	0.40×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.15×	0.15×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.13×	0.13×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.07×	0.07×

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

Side by side

	Chad	Mali
Area, main territory	1,266,000 km²489,000 mi²	1,253,000 km²484,000 mi²
Population	19.3 millionWikidata, 2023	22.4 millionWikidata, 2022
Density	15 per km²	18 per km²
Official area	1,284,000 km²Wikidata	1,240,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	N'Djamena	Bamako
Latitude range	7°N to 23°N	10°N to 25°N
Continent	Africa	Africa

Population: Wikidata 2023 and Wikidata 2022, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 1,284,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 1,266,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 1,240,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 1,253,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Chad

Similar in size to Mali

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