Portugal is 1.01× the size of Western Sahara

Portugal covers about 91,400 km² (35,300 mi²) and Western Sahara about 90,500 km² (34,900 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

91,400km²Portugal
90,500km²Western Sahara

500 km

Portugal
Western Sahara

The boundary or political status of Western Sahara is contested. Size Versus draws the Natural Earth de facto outline and takes no position on it.

What fits

Western Sahara is 99% of the size of Portugal.
Portugal is larger by 895 km² (346 mi²), which is 1.0% of the area of Western Sahara.
Measured in Belgiums: Portugal is about 2.98, Western Sahara about 2.95.

How they differ

Portugal also has the larger population: 10.3 million against 612,000, 16.9× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 113 in Portugal against 6.8 in Western Sahara: Portugal is 16.7× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 1,750 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Portugal at 40°N is drawn about 1.7× too large and Western Sahara at 24°N about 1.2×, so the map shows Portugal as 1.42× the size of Western Sahara instead of 1.01×.
Together Portugal and Western Sahara cover 182,000 km², close to the size of Cambodia (181,000 km², 0.5% smaller).
At Western Sahara's density, Portugal would have 618,000 people (it has 10.3 million). At Portugal's density, Western Sahara would have 10.2 million (it has 612,000).
Portugal's centre is 15.4° of latitude, about 1,710 km, farther north than Western Sahara's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Portugal	1.01×
More people	Portugal	16.9×
More crowded	Portugal	16.7×
Farther north	Portugal	15.4° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Portugal	1.7× against 1.2×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Portugal	Western Sahara
Belgium 30,700 km²	2.98×	2.95×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	0.37×	0.37×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.26×	0.25×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.24×	0.24×
France 548,000 km²	0.17×	0.17×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.03×	0.03×
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

	Portugal	Western Sahara
Area, main territory	91,400 km²35,300 mi²	90,500 km²34,900 mi²
Population	10.3 millionWikidata, 2021	612,000Wikidata, 2021
Density	113 per km²	6.8 per km²
Official area	92,200 km²Wikidata	266,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Lisbon	–
Latitude range	30°N to 42°N	21°N to 28°N
Continent	Europe	Africa

Population: Wikidata 2021, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 92,200 km² agrees with our measured area of 91,400 km², to within 2%.
Our measured 90,500 km² is 66% below Wikidata's official figure of 266,000 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently. This difference is flagged for review.

Similar in size to Portugal

Similar in size to Western Sahara

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