Italy is 2.59× the size of Benin

Italy covers about 301,000 km² (116,000 mi²) and Benin about 116,000 km² (44,800 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

301,000km²Italy
116,000km²Benin

200 km

Italy
Benin

What fits

Benin fits inside Italy about 2.59 times by area.
Italy is larger by 185,000 km² (71,500 mi²), which is 159% of the area of Benin.
Measured in Belgiums: Italy is about 9.82, Benin about 3.79.

How they differ

Italy also has the larger population: 58.9 million against 14.1 million, 4.17× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 195 in Italy against 122 in Benin: Italy is 1.61× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 3,800 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Italy at 43°N is drawn about 1.9× too large and Benin at 10°N about 1.0×, so the map shows Italy as 4.67× the size of Benin instead of 2.59×.
Together Italy and Benin cover 417,000 km², close to the size of Paraguay (400,000 km², 4.2% smaller).
The gap between them, 185,000 km², is about the size of Syria (186,000 km²).
At Benin's density, Italy would have 36.6 million people (it has 58.9 million). At Italy's density, Benin would have 22.7 million (it has 14.1 million).
Italy's centre is 33.1° of latitude, about 3,680 km, farther north than Benin's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Italy	2.59×
More people	Italy	4.17×
More crowded	Italy	1.61×
Farther north	Italy	33.1° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Italy	1.9× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Italy	Benin
Belgium 30,700 km²	9.82×	3.79×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	1.24×	0.48×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.84×	0.32×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.81×	0.31×
France 548,000 km²	0.55×	0.21×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.10×	0.04×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.04×	0.01×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.03×	0.01×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.02×	0.01×

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

Side by side

	Italy	Benin
Area, main territory	301,000 km²116,000 mi²	116,000 km²44,800 mi²
Population	58.9 millionWikidata, 2023	14.1 millionWikidata, 2023
Density	195 per km²	122 per km²
Official area	302,000 km²Wikidata	115,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Rome	Porto-Novo; Cotonou
Latitude range	35°N to 47°N	6°N to 12°N
Continent	Europe	Africa

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

Wikidata's official figure of 302,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 301,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 115,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 116,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Italy

Similar in size to Benin

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