Italy is 1.16× the size of Gabon

Italy covers about 301,000 km² (116,000 mi²) and Gabon about 260,000 km² (100,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

301,000km²Italy
260,000km²Gabon

200 km

Italy
Gabon

What fits

Gabon is 86% of the size of Italy.
Italy is larger by 41,200 km² (15,900 mi²), which is 16% of the area of Gabon.
Measured in Belgiums: Italy is about 9.82, Gabon about 8.48.

How they differ

Italy also has the larger population: 58.9 million against 2.0 million, 29.1× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 195 in Italy against 7.8 in Gabon: Italy is 25.1× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 4,810 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Italy at 43°N is drawn about 1.9× too large and Gabon at 1°S about 1.0×, so the map shows Italy as 2.15× the size of Gabon instead of 1.16×.
Together Italy and Gabon cover 561,000 km², close to the size of Ukraine (572,000 km², 1.9% bigger).
The gap between them, 41,200 km², is about the size of Switzerland (41,400 km²).
At Gabon's density, Italy would have 2.3 million people (it has 58.9 million). At Italy's density, Gabon would have 50.8 million (it has 2.0 million).
Italy's centre is 43.3° of latitude, about 4,810 km, farther north than Gabon's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Italy	1.16×
More people	Italy	29.1×
More crowded	Italy	25.1×
Farther north	Italy	43.3° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Italy	1.9× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Italy	Gabon
Belgium 30,700 km²	9.82×	8.48×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	1.24×	1.07×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.84×	0.73×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.81×	0.70×
France 548,000 km²	0.55×	0.47×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.10×	0.08×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.04×	0.03×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.03×	0.03×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.02×	0.02×

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

Side by side

	Italy	Gabon
Area, main territory	301,000 km²116,000 mi²	260,000 km²100,000 mi²
Population	58.9 millionWikidata, 2023	2.0 millionWikidata, 2017
Density	195 per km²	7.8 per km²
Official area	302,000 km²Wikidata	268,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Rome	Libreville
Latitude range	35°N to 47°N	4°S to 2°N
Continent	Europe	Africa

Population: Wikidata 2023 and Wikidata 2017, 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%.
Our measured 260,000 km² is 2.9% below Wikidata's official figure of 268,000 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently.

Similar in size to Italy

Similar in size to Gabon

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