Lake Michigan is 1.05× the size of Croatia
Lake Michigan (lake) covers about 57,500 km² (22,200 mi²) and Croatia (country) about 55,000 km² (21,200 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other. The Lake Michigan outline is Natural Earth’s, checked against the published area.
- 57,500km²Lake Michigan
- 55,000km²Croatia
100 km
- Lake Michigan
- Croatia
What fits
- Croatia is 96% of the size of Lake Michigan.
- Lake Michigan is larger by 2,520 km² (972 mi²), which is 4.6% of the area of Croatia.
- Measured in Belgiums: Lake Michigan is about 1.88, Croatia about 1.79.
How they differ
- Their centres are about 7,550 km apart.
- Together Lake Michigan and Croatia cover 113,000 km², close to the size of Bulgaria (113,000 km², 0.2% bigger).
- The gap between them, 2,520 km², is about the size of Luxembourg (2,610 km²).
- Croatia's centre is 1.1° of latitude, about 120 km, farther north than Lake Michigan's.
- Lake Michigan is a lake and ranks 5th of the 104 lakes on sizeversus by area.
- Croatia ranks 127th of 212 countries by area.
- Laid out flat, Lake Michigan stretches about 499 km north to south and 255 km east to west; Croatia about 457 km by 461 km.
- Poured over Croatia, the 4,918 km³ that Wikidata records for Lake Michigan would stand 89 m deep.
- Wikidata’s published figure of 57,800 km² agrees with our measured 57,500 km², to within 2%.
Who wins on what
| Measure | Winner | By |
|---|---|---|
| Larger area | Lake Michigan | 1.05× |
| Farther north | Croatia | 1.1° of latitude |
Both against the same yardsticks
| Yardstick | Lake Michigan | Croatia |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium 30,700 km² | 1.88× | 1.79× |
| United Kingdom 244,000 km² | 0.24× | 0.23× |
| Germany 358,000 km² | 0.16× | 0.15× |
| Japan 374,000 km² | 0.15× | 0.15× |
| France 548,000 km² | 0.11× | 0.10× |
| India 3,151,000 km² | 0.02× | 0.02× |
| Brazil 8,473,000 km² | 0.01× | 0.01× |
| United States 9,447,000 km² | 0.01× | 0.01× |
| Russia 16,980,000 km² | 1 in 295 | 1 in 309 |
Each figure is the place's area divided by the yardstick's.
Side by side
| Lake Michigan | Croatia | |
|---|---|---|
| Is a | Lakelake on sizeversus | CountryEurope |
| Area, measured | 57,500 km²22,200 mi² | 55,000 km²21,200 mi² |
| Area, published | 57,800 km²Wikidata | 56,600 km²Wikidata |
| Rank by area | 5th of 104lakes | 127th of 212countries |
| Greatest depth | 281 mWikidata | – |
| Volume | 4,918 km³ | – |
| Latitude range | 42°N to 46°N | 42°N to 47°N |
| On the shore | 1 on the shore | – |
Published figures: Wikidata (CC0). A lake or a sea has no legal boundary: the measured area is that of Natural Earth’s outline, and it is shown beside the published one.
- Natural Earth’s outlines of the United States contain or lie within 4 km of the outline of Lake Michigan. That is what its geometry says, and it is not a statement about who owns the water or where any border runs in it.
Similar in size to Lake Michigan
Similar in size to Croatia
More comparisons
Send it to someone who won’t believe it
Sources and method
- Outlines
- Lakes and seas: Natural Earth 1:10m physical vectors (public domain), kept only where the measured area is within 10% of the published one. Countries and regions: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 and Admin 1, public domain.
- Boundary
- De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth. A lake or a sea has no legal boundary of its own; the outline is a cartographic one.
- Area
- Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outlines, shown rounded. The published figure comes from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-11, and is shown beside the measured one.
- 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