Mauritania is 1.04× the size of Egypt

Mauritania covers about 1,036,000 km² (400,000 mi²) and Egypt about 1,001,000 km² (387,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

1,036,000km²Mauritania
1,001,000km²Egypt

200 km

Mauritania
Egypt

What fits

Egypt is 97% of the size of Mauritania.
Mauritania is larger by 35,300 km² (13,600 mi²), which is 3.5% of the area of Egypt.
Measured in Belgiums: Mauritania is about 33.8, Egypt about 32.6.

How they differ

Mauritania is larger, but Egypt has the larger population: 114.5 million against 4.7 million, 24.2× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 114 in Egypt against 4.6 in Mauritania: Egypt is 25.0× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 4,150 km apart.
On a standard web map Egypt looks larger than Mauritania: Mauritania at 20°N is drawn about 1.1× too large and Egypt at 26°N about 1.2×, so the map shows Egypt as 1.06× the size of Mauritania, when Mauritania is 1.04× the size of Egypt.
Together Mauritania and Egypt cover 2,037,000 km², close to the size of Mexico (1,958,000 km², 3.9% smaller).
The gap between them, 35,300 km², is about the size of Taiwan (36,200 km²).
At Egypt's density, Mauritania would have 118.6 million people (it has 4.7 million). At Mauritania's density, Egypt would have 4.6 million (it has 114.5 million).
Egypt's centre is 6.2° of latitude, about 690 km, farther north than Mauritania's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Mauritania	1.04×
More people	Egypt	24.2×
More crowded	Egypt	25.0×
Farther north	Egypt	6.2° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Egypt	1.2× against 1.1×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Mauritania	Egypt
Belgium 30,700 km²	33.8×	32.6×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	4.25×	4.11×
Germany 358,000 km²	2.90×	2.80×
Japan 374,000 km²	2.77×	2.68×
France 548,000 km²	1.89×	1.83×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.33×	0.32×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.12×	0.12×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.11×	0.11×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.06×	0.06×

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

Side by side

	Mauritania	Egypt
Area, main territory	1,036,000 km²400,000 mi²	1,001,000 km²387,000 mi²
Population	4.7 millionWikidata, 2022	114.5 millionWikidata, 2023
Density	4.6 per km²	114 per km²
Official area	1,031,000 km²Wikidata	1,010,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Nouakchott	Cairo
Latitude range	15°N to 27°N	22°N to 32°N
Continent	Africa	Africa

Population: Wikidata 2022 and Wikidata 2023, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 1,031,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 1,036,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 1,010,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 1,001,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Mauritania

Similar in size to Egypt

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