Eritrea is 1.03× the size of Malawi

Eritrea covers about 123,000 km² (47,300 mi²) and Malawi about 119,000 km² (46,100 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

123,000km²Eritrea
119,000km²Malawi

200 km

Eritrea
Malawi

What fits

Malawi is 97% of the size of Eritrea.
Eritrea is larger by 3,140 km² (1,210 mi²), which is 2.6% of the area of Malawi.
Measured in Belgiums: Eritrea is about 4.00, Malawi about 3.89.

How they differ

Eritrea is larger, but Malawi has the larger population: 17.6 million against 3.5 million, 5.02× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 147 in Malawi against 29 in Eritrea: Malawi is 5.15× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 3,220 km apart.
Together Eritrea and Malawi cover 242,000 km², close to the size of Uganda (242,000 km², 0.0% smaller).
The gap between them, 3,140 km², is about the size of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (3,320 km²).
At Malawi's density, Eritrea would have 18.0 million people (it has 3.5 million). At Eritrea's density, Malawi would have 3.4 million (it has 17.6 million).
Eritrea's centre is 28.6° of latitude, about 3,180 km, farther north than Malawi's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Eritrea	1.03×
More people	Malawi	5.02×
More crowded	Malawi	5.15×
Farther north	Eritrea	28.6° of latitude

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Eritrea	Malawi
Belgium 30,700 km²	4.00×	3.89×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	0.50×	0.49×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.34×	0.33×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.33×	0.32×
France 548,000 km²	0.22×	0.22×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.04×	0.04×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.01×	0.01×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.01×	0.01×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.01×	0.01×

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

Side by side

	Eritrea	Malawi
Area, main territory	123,000 km²47,300 mi²	119,000 km²46,100 mi²
Population	3.5 millionWikidata, 2019	17.6 millionWikidata, 2018
Density	29 per km²	147 per km²
Official area	118,000 km²Wikidata	118,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Asmara	Lilongwe
Latitude range	12°N to 18°N	17°S to 9°S
Continent	Africa	Africa

Population: Wikidata 2019 and Wikidata 2018, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Our measured 123,000 km² is 4.2% above Wikidata's official figure of 118,000 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently.
Wikidata's official figure of 118,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 119,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Eritrea

Similar in size to Malawi

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