Malawi is 1.06× the size of Bulgaria

Malawi covers about 119,000 km² (46,100 mi²) and Bulgaria about 113,000 km² (43,500 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

119,000km²Malawi
113,000km²Bulgaria

100 km

Malawi
Bulgaria

What fits

Bulgaria is 94% of the size of Malawi.
Malawi is larger by 6,640 km² (2,560 mi²), which is 5.9% of the area of Bulgaria.
Measured in Belgiums: Malawi is about 3.89, Bulgaria about 3.68.

How they differ

Malawi also has the larger population: 17.6 million against 6.4 million, 2.73× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 147 in Malawi against 57 in Bulgaria: Malawi is 2.58× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 6,290 km apart.
On a standard web map Bulgaria looks larger than Malawi: Malawi at 13°S is drawn about 1.1× too large and Bulgaria at 43°N about 1.9×, so the map shows Bulgaria as 1.66× the size of Malawi, when Malawi is 1.06× the size of Bulgaria.
Together Malawi and Bulgaria cover 232,000 km², close to the size of Laos (228,000 km², 1.7% smaller).
The gap between them, 6,640 km², is about the size of Palestine (6,070 km²).
At Bulgaria's density, Malawi would have 6.8 million people (it has 17.6 million). At Malawi's density, Bulgaria would have 16.6 million (it has 6.4 million).
Bulgaria's centre is 56.0° of latitude, about 6,220 km, farther north than Malawi's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Malawi	1.06×
More people	Malawi	2.73×
More crowded	Malawi	2.58×
Farther north	Bulgaria	56.0° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Bulgaria	1.9× against 1.1×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Malawi	Bulgaria
Belgium 30,700 km²	3.89×	3.68×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	0.49×	0.46×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.33×	0.32×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.32×	0.30×
France 548,000 km²	0.22×	0.21×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.04×	0.04×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.01×	0.01×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.01×	0.01×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.01×	0.01×

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

Side by side

	Malawi	Bulgaria
Area, main territory	119,000 km²46,100 mi²	113,000 km²43,500 mi²
Population	17.6 millionWikidata, 2018	6.4 millionWikidata, 2025
Density	147 per km²	57 per km²
Official area	118,000 km²Wikidata	111,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Lilongwe	Sofia
Latitude range	17°S to 9°S	41°N to 44°N
Continent	Africa	Europe

Population: Wikidata 2018 and Wikidata 2025, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 118,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 119,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 111,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 113,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Malawi

Similar in size to Bulgaria

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