Spain is 1.06× the size of Somalia

Spain covers about 499,000 km² (193,000 mi²) and Somalia about 472,000 km² (182,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

499,000km²Spain
472,000km²Somalia

200 km

Spain
Somalia

Outlines show main territory. Spain also has about 7,440 km² of overseas territory. These are not drawn, and not counted in the comparison.

What fits

Somalia is 94% of the size of Spain.
Spain is larger by 27,600 km² (10,700 mi²), which is 5.9% of the area of Somalia.
Measured in Belgiums: Spain is about 16.3, Somalia about 15.4.

How they differ

Spain also has the larger population: 48.6 million against 11.0 million, 4.40× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 96 in Spain against 23 in Somalia: Spain is 4.10× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 6,300 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Spain at 40°N is drawn about 1.7× too large and Somalia at 5°N about 1.0×, so the map shows Spain as 1.81× the size of Somalia instead of 1.06×.
Together Spain and Somalia cover 971,000 km², close to the size of Egypt (1,001,000 km², 3.1% bigger).
The gap between them, 27,600 km², is about the size of Solomon Islands (27,200 km²).
At Somalia's density, Spain would have 11.9 million people (it has 48.6 million). At Spain's density, Somalia would have 45.2 million (it has 11.0 million).
Spain's centre is 35.6° of latitude, about 3,960 km, farther north than Somalia's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Spain	1.06×
More people	Spain	4.40×
More crowded	Spain	4.10×
Farther north	Spain	35.6° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Spain	1.7× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Spain	Somalia
Belgium 30,700 km²	16.3×	15.4×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	2.05×	1.94×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.40×	1.32×
Japan 374,000 km²	1.34×	1.26×
France 548,000 km²	0.91×	0.86×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.16×	0.15×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.06×	0.06×
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

	Spain	Somalia
Area, main territory	499,000 km²193,000 mi²	472,000 km²182,000 mi²
Area with overseas territory	507,000 km²	472,000 km²
Population	48.6 millionWikidata, 2024	11.0 millionWikidata, 2017
Density	96 per km²	23 per km²
Official area	506,000 km²Wikidata	638,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Madrid	Mogadishu
Latitude range	35°N to 44°N	2°S to 12°N
Continent	Europe	Africa

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

Wikidata's official figure of 506,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 507,000 km², to within 2%.
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.

Similar in size to Spain

Similar in size to Somalia

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