Sudan is 1.14× the size of Libya

Sudan covers about 1,856,000 km² (716,000 mi²) and Libya about 1,624,000 km² (627,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

1,856,000km²Sudan
1,624,000km²Libya

500 km

Sudan
Libya

What fits

Libya is 88% of the size of Sudan.
Sudan is larger by 232,000 km² (89,500 mi²), which is 14% of the area of Libya.
Measured in Belgiums: Sudan is about 60.5, Libya about 52.9.

How they differ

Sudan also has the larger population: 40.5 million against 7.4 million, 5.49× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 22 in Sudan against 4.5 in Libya: Sudan is 4.81× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 1,730 km apart.
On a standard web map Libya looks larger than Sudan: Sudan at 16°N is drawn about 1.1× too large and Libya at 27°N about 1.3×, so the map shows Libya as 1.02× the size of Sudan, when Sudan is 1.14× the size of Libya.
Together Sudan and Libya cover 3,479,000 km², close to the size of India (3,151,000 km², 9.4% smaller).
The gap between them, 232,000 km², is about the size of Laos (228,000 km²).
At Libya's density, Sudan would have 8.4 million people (it has 40.5 million). At Sudan's density, Libya would have 35.5 million (it has 7.4 million).
Libya's centre is 11.1° of latitude, about 1,230 km, farther north than Sudan's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Sudan	1.14×
More people	Sudan	5.49×
More crowded	Sudan	4.81×
Farther north	Libya	11.1° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Libya	1.3× against 1.1×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Sudan	Libya
Belgium 30,700 km²	60.5×	52.9×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	7.61×	6.66×
Germany 358,000 km²	5.19×	4.54×
Japan 374,000 km²	4.97×	4.35×
France 548,000 km²	3.39×	2.96×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.59×	0.52×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.22×	0.19×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.20×	0.17×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.11×	0.10×

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

Side by side

	Sudan	Libya
Area, main territory	1,856,000 km²716,000 mi²	1,624,000 km²627,000 mi²
Population	40.5 millionWikidata, 2017	7.4 millionWikidata, 2024
Density	22 per km²	4.5 per km²
Official area	1,878,000 km²Wikidata	1,760,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Khartoum	Tripoli
Latitude range	9°N to 22°N	19°N to 33°N
Continent	Africa	Africa

Population: Wikidata 2017 and Wikidata 2024, covering each whole country. 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 1,624,000 km² is 7.7% below Wikidata's official figure of 1,760,000 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 Sudan

Similar in size to Libya

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