Peru is 1.03× the size of Mali

Peru covers about 1,290,000 km² (498,000 mi²) and Mali about 1,253,000 km² (484,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

1,290,000km²Peru
1,253,000km²Mali

500 km

Peru
Mali

What fits

Mali is 97% of the size of Peru.
Peru is larger by 37,100 km² (14,300 mi²), which is 3.0% of the area of Mali.
Measured in Belgiums: Peru is about 42.1, Mali about 40.8.

How they differ

Peru also has the larger population: 34.2 million against 22.4 million, 1.53× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 26 in Peru against 18 in Mali: Peru is 1.48× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 8,320 km apart.
On a standard web map Mali looks larger than Peru: Peru at 9°S is drawn about 1.0× too large and Mali at 17°N about 1.1×, so the map shows Mali as 1.04× the size of Peru, when Peru is 1.03× the size of Mali.
Together Peru and Mali cover 2,543,000 km², close to the size of Kazakhstan (2,714,000 km², 6.8% bigger).
The gap between them, 37,100 km², is about the size of Netherlands (37,100 km²).
At Mali's density, Peru would have 23.1 million people (it has 34.2 million). At Peru's density, Mali would have 33.2 million (it has 22.4 million).
Mali's centre is 26.4° of latitude, about 2,940 km, farther north than Peru's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Peru	1.03×
More people	Peru	1.53×
More crowded	Peru	1.48×
Farther north	Mali	26.4° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Mali	1.1× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Peru	Mali
Belgium 30,700 km²	42.1×	40.8×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	5.29×	5.14×
Germany 358,000 km²	3.61×	3.50×
Japan 374,000 km²	3.45×	3.35×
France 548,000 km²	2.35×	2.29×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.41×	0.40×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.15×	0.15×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.14×	0.13×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.08×	0.07×

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

Side by side

	Peru	Mali
Area, main territory	1,290,000 km²498,000 mi²	1,253,000 km²484,000 mi²
Population	34.2 millionWikidata, 2025	22.4 millionWikidata, 2022
Density	26 per km²	18 per km²
Official area	1,285,000 km²Wikidata	1,240,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Lima	Bamako
Latitude range	18°S to 0°S	10°N to 25°N
Continent	South America	Africa

Population: Wikidata 2025 and Wikidata 2022, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 1,285,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 1,290,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 1,240,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 1,253,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Peru

Similar in size to Mali

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