Djibouti is 1.06× the size of El Salvador

Djibouti covers about 21,800 km² (8,440 mi²) and El Salvador about 20,500 km² (7,930 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

21,800km²Djibouti
20,500km²El Salvador

50 km

Djibouti
El Salvador

What fits

El Salvador is 94% of the size of Djibouti.
Djibouti is larger by 1,310 km² (505 mi²), which is 6.4% of the area of El Salvador.
Measured in Belgiums: Djibouti is about 0.71, El Salvador about 0.67.

How they differ

Djibouti is larger, but El Salvador has the larger population: 6.0 million against 1.2 million, 5.23× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 294 in El Salvador against 53 in Djibouti: El Salvador is 5.56× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 14,000 km apart.
Together Djibouti and El Salvador cover 42,400 km², close to the size of Denmark (42,700 km², 0.7% bigger).
The gap between them, 1,310 km², is about the size of São Tomé and Príncipe (1,040 km²).
At El Salvador's density, Djibouti would have 6.4 million people (it has 1.2 million). At Djibouti's density, El Salvador would have 1.1 million (it has 6.0 million).
El Salvador's centre is 2.0° of latitude, about 220 km, farther north than Djibouti's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Djibouti	1.06×
More people	El Salvador	5.23×
More crowded	El Salvador	5.56×
Farther north	El Salvador	2.0° of latitude

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Djibouti	El Salvador
Belgium 30,700 km²	0.71×	0.67×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	0.09×	0.08×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.06×	0.06×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.06×	0.05×
France 548,000 km²	0.04×	0.04×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.01×	0.01×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	1 in 388	1 in 413
United States 9,447,000 km²	1 in 432	1 in 460
Russia 16,980,000 km²	1 in 777	1 in 827

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

Side by side

	Djibouti	El Salvador
Area, main territory	21,800 km²8,440 mi²	20,500 km²7,930 mi²
Population	1.2 millionWikidata, 2023	6.0 millionWikidata, 2024
Density	53 per km²	294 per km²
Official area	23,200 km²Wikidata	21,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Djibouti	San Salvador
Latitude range	11°N to 13°N	13°N to 14°N
Continent	Africa	North America

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

Our measured 21,800 km² is 5.8% below Wikidata's official figure of 23,200 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently. This difference is flagged for review.
Our measured 20,500 km² is 2.4% below Wikidata's official figure of 21,000 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently.

Similar in size to Djibouti

Similar in size to El Salvador

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