Madagascar is 1.19× the size of Spain

Madagascar covers about 593,000 km² (229,000 mi²) and Spain about 499,000 km² (193,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

593,000km²Madagascar
499,000km²Spain

200 km

Madagascar
Spain

Outlines show main territory. Spain also has about 7,440 km² of overseas territory. These are not drawn, and not counted in the comparison.

What fits

Spain is 84% of the size of Madagascar.
Madagascar is larger by 93,500 km² (36,100 mi²), which is 19% of the area of Spain.
Measured in Belgiums: Madagascar is about 19.3, Spain about 16.3.

How they differ

Madagascar is larger, but Spain has the larger population: 48.6 million against 32.0 million, 1.52× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 96 in Spain against 54 in Madagascar: Spain is 1.78× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 8,430 km apart.
On a standard web map Spain looks larger than Madagascar: Madagascar at 19°S is drawn about 1.1× too large and Spain at 40°N about 1.7×, so the map shows Spain as 1.29× the size of Madagascar, when Madagascar is 1.19× the size of Spain.
Together Madagascar and Spain cover 1,092,000 km², close to the size of Bolivia (1,087,000 km², 0.5% smaller).
The gap between them, 93,500 km², is about the size of Hungary (93,200 km²).
At Spain's density, Madagascar would have 56.8 million people (it has 32.0 million). At Madagascar's density, Spain would have 27.3 million (it has 48.6 million).
Spain's centre is 59.7° of latitude, about 6,640 km, farther north than Madagascar's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Madagascar	1.19×
More people	Spain	1.52×
More crowded	Spain	1.78×
Farther north	Spain	59.7° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Spain	1.7× against 1.1×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Madagascar	Spain
Belgium 30,700 km²	19.3×	16.3×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	2.43×	2.05×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.66×	1.40×
Japan 374,000 km²	1.59×	1.34×
France 548,000 km²	1.08×	0.91×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.19×	0.16×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.07×	0.06×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.06×	0.05×
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	Spain
Area, main territory	593,000 km²229,000 mi²	499,000 km²193,000 mi²
Area with overseas territory	593,000 km²	507,000 km²
Population	32.0 millionWikidata, 2024	48.6 millionWikidata, 2024
Density	54 per km²	96 per km²
Official area	587,000 km²Wikidata	506,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Antananarivo	Madrid
Latitude range	26°S to 12°S	35°N to 44°N
Continent	Africa	Europe

Population: Wikidata 2024, 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 506,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 507,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Madagascar

Similar in size to Spain

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