Sudan is 4.53× the size of California
Sudan (Africa) covers about 1,856,000 km² (716,000 mi²) and California (state of the United States) about 410,000 km² (158,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.
- 1,856,000km²Sudan
- 410,000km²California
500 km
- Sudan
- California
What fits
- California fits inside Sudan about 4.53 times by area.
- Sudan is larger by 1,446,000 km² (558,000 mi²), which is 353% of the area of California.
- Measured in Belgiums: Sudan is about 60.5, California about 13.4.
How they differ
- Sudan also has the larger population: 40.5 million against 39.5 million, 1.03× as many people.
- Per square kilometre that is 96 in California against 22 in Sudan: California is 4.42× as densely populated.
- Their centres are about 13,300 km apart.
- A standard web map misstates the comparison: Sudan at 16°N is drawn about 1.1× too large and California at 37°N about 1.6×, so the map shows Sudan as 3.11× the size of California instead of 4.53×.
- Together Sudan and California cover 2,265,000 km², close to the size of Algeria (2,309,000 km², 1.9% bigger).
- The gap between them, 1,446,000 km², is about the size of Mongolia (1,565,000 km²).
- At California's density, Sudan would have 179.1 million people (it has 40.5 million). At Sudan's density, California would have 9.0 million (it has 39.5 million).
- California's centre is 21.2° of latitude, about 2,360 km, farther north than Sudan's.
- Sudan ranks 17th of 246 countries and territories by area.
- California is the 3rd largest of the 51 states and districts of the United States and covers 4.3% of its area; it is the 12th most densely populated of them.
- California lies about 21° of latitude (roughly 2,360 km) north of Sudan.
- Shared out evenly, each person in Sudan would have about 45,780 m² and each person in California about 10,360 m².
- Laid side by side, Sudan and California would cover 2,265,000 km², about the same size as Algeria.
- Together they have 80.1 million people, 96% as many people as Germany.
- Counted as a country, California would rank 60th by area and 37th by population.
Side by side
| Sudan | California | |
|---|---|---|
| Is a | CountryAfrica | StateUnited States |
| Area, measured | 1,856,000 km²716,000 mi² | 410,000 km²158,000 mi² |
| Official area | 1,878,000 km²Wikidata | 424,000 km²Wikidata |
| Rank by area | 16th of 239worldwide | 3rd of 51in the United States |
| Population | 40.5 millionWikidata, 2017 | 39.5 millionWikidata, 2020 |
| Rank by population | 36th of 237worldwide | 1st of 51in the United States |
| Density | 22 per km² | 96 per km² |
| Capital | Khartoum | Sacramento |
| Latitude range | 9°N to 22°N | 33°N to 42°N |
Population: Wikidata 2017 and Wikidata 2020. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).
- Wikidata's official figure of 1,878,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 1,856,000 km², to within 2%.
- Our measured 410,000 km² is 3.4% below Wikidata's official figure of 424,000 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently.
Similar in size to Sudan
Similar in size to California
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Sources and method
- Outlines
- Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain for the region; Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 - Countries, public domain
- Boundary
- De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth. A region is drawn whole, every island included; a country is its main territory.
- Area
- Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outlines, shown rounded.
- 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
- 2026-11-12