Philippines is 1.01× the size of Gulf of Carpentaria

The Philippines (country) covers about 293,000 km² (113,000 mi²) and the Gulf of Carpentaria (gulf) about 290,000 km² (112,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other. The Gulf of Carpentaria outline is Natural Earth’s, checked against the published area.

293,000km²Philippines
290,000km²Gulf of Carpentaria

200 km

Philippines
Gulf of Carpentaria

What fits

Gulf of Carpentaria is 99% of the size of Philippines.
Philippines is larger by 2,900 km² (1,120 mi²), which is 1.0% of the area of Gulf of Carpentaria.
Measured in Belgiums: Philippines is about 9.56, Gulf of Carpentaria about 9.47.

How they differ

Their centres are about 3,420 km apart.
On a standard web map Gulf of Carpentaria looks larger than Philippines: Philippines at 12°N is drawn about 1.0× too large and Gulf of Carpentaria at 15°S about 1.1×, so the map shows Gulf of Carpentaria as 1.01× the size of Philippines, when Philippines is 1.01× the size of Gulf of Carpentaria.
Together Philippines and Gulf of Carpentaria cover 584,000 km², close to the size of Kenya (586,000 km², 0.3% bigger).
Philippines's centre is 26.3° of latitude, about 2,920 km, farther north than Gulf of Carpentaria's.
Philippines ranks 73rd of 212 countries by area.
The Gulf of Carpentaria is a gulf and ranks 21st of the 42 seas on sizeversus by area.
Laid out flat, the Philippines stretches about 1,800 km north to south and 1,060 km east to west; the Gulf of Carpentaria about 608 km by 704 km.
Our measured 290,000 km² is 3.2% below Wikidata’s published figure of 300,000 km². Published areas of lakes and seas move with the water level and with what is counted, so a few percent is expected.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Philippines	1.01×
Farther north	Philippines	26.3° of latitude

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Philippines	Gulf of Carpentaria
Belgium 30,700 km²	9.56×	9.47×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	1.20×	1.19×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.82×	0.81×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.79×	0.78×
France 548,000 km²	0.54×	0.53×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.09×	0.09×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.03×	0.03×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.03×	0.03×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.02×	0.02×

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

Side by side

	Philippines	Gulf of Carpentaria
Is a	CountryAsia	Gulfsea on sizeversus
Area, measured	293,000 km²113,000 mi²	290,000 km²112,000 mi²
Area, published	343,000 km²Wikidata	300,000 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	73rd of 212countries	21st of 42seas
Greatest depth	–	82 mWikidata
Latitude range	5°N to 21°N	18°S to 12°S
On the shore	–	1 on the shore

Published figures: Wikidata (CC0). A lake or a sea has no legal boundary: the measured area is that of Natural Earth’s outline, and it is shown beside the published one.

Natural Earth’s outlines of Australia lie within 25 km of the outline of the Gulf of Carpentaria. That is what its geometry says, and it is not a statement about who owns the water or where any border runs in it.

Similar in size to Philippines

Similar in size to Gulf of Carpentaria

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Lakes and seas: Natural Earth 1:10m physical vectors (public domain), kept only where the measured area is within 10% of the published one. Countries and regions: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 and Admin 1, public domain.
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth. A lake or a sea has no legal boundary of its own; the outline is a cartographic one.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outlines, shown rounded. The published figure comes from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-11, and is shown beside the measured one.
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