Italy is 3.33× the size of Western Sahara

Italy covers about 301,000 km² (116,000 mi²) and Western Sahara about 90,500 km² (34,900 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

301,000km²Italy
90,500km²Western Sahara

200 km

Italy
Western Sahara

The boundary or political status of Western Sahara is contested. Size Versus draws the Natural Earth de facto outline and takes no position on it.

What fits

Western Sahara fits inside Italy about 3.33 times by area.
Italy is larger by 211,000 km² (81,300 mi²), which is 233% of the area of Western Sahara.
Measured in Belgiums: Italy is about 9.82, Western Sahara about 2.95.

How they differ

Italy also has the larger population: 58.9 million against 612,000, 96.2× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 195 in Italy against 6.8 in Western Sahara: Italy is 28.9× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 3,040 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Italy at 43°N is drawn about 1.9× too large and Western Sahara at 24°N about 1.2×, so the map shows Italy as 5.13× the size of Western Sahara instead of 3.33×.
Together Italy and Western Sahara cover 392,000 km², close to the size of Zimbabwe (389,000 km², 0.6% smaller).
The gap between them, 211,000 km², is about the size of Guyana (211,000 km²).
At Western Sahara's density, Italy would have 2.0 million people (it has 58.9 million). At Italy's density, Western Sahara would have 17.7 million (it has 612,000).
Italy's centre is 18.5° of latitude, about 2,060 km, farther north than Western Sahara's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Italy	3.33×
More people	Italy	96.2×
More crowded	Italy	28.9×
Farther north	Italy	18.5° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Italy	1.9× against 1.2×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Italy	Western Sahara
Belgium 30,700 km²	9.82×	2.95×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	1.24×	0.37×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.84×	0.25×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.81×	0.24×
France 548,000 km²	0.55×	0.17×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.10×	0.03×
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	Western Sahara
Area, main territory	301,000 km²116,000 mi²	90,500 km²34,900 mi²
Population	58.9 millionWikidata, 2023	612,000Wikidata, 2021
Density	195 per km²	6.8 per km²
Official area	302,000 km²Wikidata	266,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Rome	–
Latitude range	35°N to 47°N	21°N to 28°N
Continent	Europe	Africa

Population: Wikidata 2023 and Wikidata 2021, 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 90,500 km² is 66% below Wikidata's official figure of 266,000 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently. This difference is flagged for review.

Similar in size to Italy

Similar in size to Western Sahara

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