Somalia is 1.01× the size of Papua New Guinea

Somalia covers about 472,000 km² (182,000 mi²) and Papua New Guinea about 465,000 km² (180,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

472,000km²Somalia
465,000km²Papua New Guinea

500 km

Somalia
Papua New Guinea

What fits

Papua New Guinea is 99% of the size of Somalia.
Somalia is larger by 6,670 km² (2,570 mi²), which is 1.4% of the area of Papua New Guinea.
Measured in Belgiums: Somalia is about 15.4, Papua New Guinea about 15.2.

How they differ

Somalia also has the larger population: 11.0 million against 8.9 million, 1.23× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 23 in Somalia against 19 in Papua New Guinea: Somalia is 1.22× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 11,100 km apart.
Together Somalia and Papua New Guinea cover 937,000 km², close to the size of Tanzania (942,000 km², 0.5% bigger).
The gap between them, 6,670 km², is about the size of Palestine (6,070 km²).
At Papua New Guinea's density, Somalia would have 9.1 million people (it has 11.0 million). At Somalia's density, Papua New Guinea would have 10.9 million (it has 8.9 million).
Somalia's centre is 11.2° of latitude, about 1,250 km, farther north than Papua New Guinea's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Somalia	1.01×
More people	Somalia	1.23×
More crowded	Somalia	1.22×
Farther north	Somalia	11.2° of latitude

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Somalia	Papua New Guinea
Belgium 30,700 km²	15.4×	15.2×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	1.94×	1.91×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.32×	1.30×
Japan 374,000 km²	1.26×	1.25×
France 548,000 km²	0.86×	0.85×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.15×	0.15×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.06×	0.05×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.05×	0.05×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.03×	0.03×

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

Side by side

	Somalia	Papua New Guinea
Area, main territory	472,000 km²182,000 mi²	465,000 km²180,000 mi²
Population	11.0 millionWikidata, 2017	8.9 millionWikidata, 2020
Density	23 per km²	19 per km²
Official area	638,000 km²Wikidata	463,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Mogadishu	Port Moresby
Latitude range	2°S to 12°N	12°S to 1°S
Continent	Africa	Oceania

Population: Wikidata 2017 and Wikidata 2020, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Our measured 472,000 km² is 26% below Wikidata's official figure of 638,000 km². The official figure includes Somaliland, which Natural Earth draws as a separate place; together they measure 639,000 km².
Wikidata's official figure of 463,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 465,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Somalia

Similar in size to Papua New Guinea

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