South Sudan is 1.06× the size of Madagascar

South Sudan covers about 627,000 km² (242,000 mi²) and Madagascar about 593,000 km² (229,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

627,000km²South Sudan
593,000km²Madagascar

200 km

South Sudan
Madagascar

What fits

Madagascar is 95% of the size of South Sudan.
South Sudan is larger by 33,900 km² (13,100 mi²), which is 5.7% of the area of Madagascar.
Measured in Belgiums: South Sudan is about 20.4, Madagascar about 19.3.

How they differ

South Sudan is larger, but Madagascar has the larger population: 32.0 million against 12.6 million, 2.54× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 54 in Madagascar against 20 in South Sudan: Madagascar is 2.69× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 3,460 km apart.
On a standard web map Madagascar looks larger than South Sudan: South Sudan at 7°N is drawn about 1.0× too large and Madagascar at 19°S about 1.1×, so the map shows Madagascar as 1.05× the size of South Sudan, when South Sudan is 1.06× the size of Madagascar.
Together South Sudan and Madagascar cover 1,220,000 km², close to the size of South Africa (1,220,000 km², 0.0% smaller).
The gap between them, 33,900 km², is about the size of Moldova (33,200 km²).
At Madagascar's density, South Sudan would have 33.8 million people (it has 12.6 million). At South Sudan's density, Madagascar would have 11.9 million (it has 32.0 million).
South Sudan's centre is 26.6° of latitude, about 2,960 km, farther north than Madagascar's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	South Sudan	1.06×
More people	Madagascar	2.54×
More crowded	Madagascar	2.69×
Farther north	South Sudan	26.6° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Madagascar	1.1× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	South Sudan	Madagascar
Belgium 30,700 km²	20.4×	19.3×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	2.57×	2.43×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.75×	1.66×
Japan 374,000 km²	1.68×	1.59×
France 548,000 km²	1.14×	1.08×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.20×	0.19×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.07×	0.07×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.07×	0.06×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.04×	0.03×

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

Side by side

	South Sudan	Madagascar
Area, main territory	627,000 km²242,000 mi²	593,000 km²229,000 mi²
Population	12.6 millionWikidata, 2017	32.0 millionWikidata, 2024
Density	20 per km²	54 per km²
Official area	644,000 km²Wikidata	587,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Juba	Antananarivo
Latitude range	3°N to 12°N	26°S to 12°S
Continent	Africa	Africa

Population: Wikidata 2017 and Wikidata 2024, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Our measured 627,000 km² is 2.7% below Wikidata's official figure of 644,000 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently.
Wikidata's official figure of 587,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 593,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to South Sudan

Similar in size to Madagascar

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