Madagascar is 1.02× the size of Botswana

Madagascar covers about 593,000 km² (229,000 mi²) and Botswana about 579,000 km² (224,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

593,000km²Madagascar
579,000km²Botswana

200 km

Madagascar
Botswana

What fits

Botswana is 98% of the size of Madagascar.
Madagascar is larger by 14,000 km² (5,390 mi²), which is 2.4% of the area of Botswana.
Measured in Belgiums: Madagascar is about 19.3, Botswana about 18.9.

How they differ

Madagascar also has the larger population: 32.0 million against 2.5 million, 12.9× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 54 in Madagascar against 4.3 in Botswana: Madagascar is 12.6× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 2,400 km apart.
On a standard web map Botswana looks larger than Madagascar: Madagascar at 19°S is drawn about 1.1× too large and Botswana at 22°S about 1.2×, so the map shows Botswana as 1.01× the size of Madagascar, when Madagascar is 1.02× the size of Botswana.
Together Madagascar and Botswana cover 1,172,000 km², close to the size of Niger (1,181,000 km², 0.8% bigger).
The gap between them, 14,000 km², is about the size of Montenegro (13,700 km²).
At Botswana's density, Madagascar would have 2.5 million people (it has 32.0 million). At Madagascar's density, Botswana would have 31.2 million (it has 2.5 million).
Madagascar's centre is 2.8° of latitude, about 320 km, farther north than Botswana's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Madagascar	1.02×
More people	Madagascar	12.9×
More crowded	Madagascar	12.6×
Farther north	Madagascar	2.8° of latitude

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Madagascar	Botswana
Belgium 30,700 km²	19.3×	18.9×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	2.43×	2.38×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.66×	1.62×
Japan 374,000 km²	1.59×	1.55×
France 548,000 km²	1.08×	1.06×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.19×	0.18×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.07×	0.07×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.06×	0.06×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.03×	0.03×

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

Side by side

	Madagascar	Botswana
Area, main territory	593,000 km²229,000 mi²	579,000 km²224,000 mi²
Population	32.0 millionWikidata, 2024	2.5 millionWikidata, 2023
Density	54 per km²	4.3 per km²
Official area	587,000 km²Wikidata	582,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Antananarivo	Gaborone
Latitude range	26°S to 12°S	27°S to 18°S
Continent	Africa	Africa

Population: Wikidata 2024 and Wikidata 2023, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 587,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 593,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 582,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 579,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Madagascar

Similar in size to Botswana

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