Syria is 1.11× the size of Somaliland

Syria covers about 186,000 km² (71,800 mi²) and Somaliland about 167,000 km² (64,600 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

186,000km²Syria
167,000km²Somaliland

200 km

Syria
Somaliland

The boundary or political status of Somaliland is contested. Size Versus draws the Natural Earth de facto outline and takes no position on it.

What fits

Somaliland is 90% of the size of Syria.
Syria is larger by 18,500 km² (7,160 mi²), which is 11% of the area of Somaliland.
Measured in Belgiums: Syria is about 6.06, Somaliland about 5.46.

How they differ

Syria also has the larger population: 23.9 million against 6.5 million, 3.67× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 128 in Syria against 39 in Somaliland: Syria is 3.31× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 2,920 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Syria at 35°N is drawn about 1.5× too large and Somaliland at 10°N about 1.0×, so the map shows Syria as 1.61× the size of Somaliland instead of 1.11×.
Together Syria and Somaliland cover 353,000 km², close to the size of Germany (358,000 km², 1.2% bigger).
The gap between them, 18,500 km², is about the size of Fiji (18,900 km²).
At Somaliland's density, Syria would have 7.2 million people (it has 23.9 million). At Syria's density, Somaliland would have 21.5 million (it has 6.5 million).
Syria's centre is 25.3° of latitude, about 2,810 km, farther north than Somaliland's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Syria	1.11×
More people	Syria	3.67×
More crowded	Syria	3.31×
Farther north	Syria	25.3° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Syria	1.5× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Syria	Somaliland
Belgium 30,700 km²	6.06×	5.46×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	0.76×	0.69×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.52×	0.47×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.50×	0.45×
France 548,000 km²	0.34×	0.31×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.06×	0.05×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.02×	0.02×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.02×	0.02×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.01×	0.01×

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

Side by side

	Syria	Somaliland
Area, main territory	186,000 km²71,800 mi²	167,000 km²64,600 mi²
Population	23.9 millionWikidata, 2024	6.5 millionWikidata, 2024
Density	128 per km²	39 per km²
Official area	185,000 km²Wikidata	177,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Damascus	Hargeisa
Latitude range	32°N to 37°N	8°N to 11°N
Continent	Asia	Africa

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

Wikidata's official figure of 185,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 186,000 km², to within 2%.
Our measured 167,000 km² is 5.4% below Wikidata's official figure of 177,000 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 Syria

Similar in size to Somaliland

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