United Kingdom is 2.69× the size of Western Sahara

United Kingdom covers about 244,000 km² (94,100 mi²) and Western Sahara about 90,500 km² (34,900 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

244,000km²United Kingdom
90,500km²Western Sahara

200 km

United Kingdom
Western Sahara

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

What fits

Western Sahara fits inside United Kingdom about 2.69 times by area.
United Kingdom is larger by 153,000 km² (59,200 mi²), which is 169% of the area of Western Sahara.
Measured in Belgiums: United Kingdom is about 7.95, Western Sahara about 2.95.

How they differ

United Kingdom also has the larger population: 67.3 million against 612,000, 110× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 276 in United Kingdom against 6.8 in Western Sahara: United Kingdom is 40.8× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 3,410 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: United Kingdom at 54°N is drawn about 2.9× too large and Western Sahara at 24°N about 1.2×, so the map shows United Kingdom as 6.50× the size of Western Sahara instead of 2.69×.
Together United Kingdom and Western Sahara cover 334,000 km², close to the size of Finland (333,000 km², 0.4% smaller).
The gap between them, 153,000 km², is about the size of Tunisia (157,000 km²).
At Western Sahara's density, United Kingdom would have 1.6 million people (it has 67.3 million). At United Kingdom's density, Western Sahara would have 25.0 million (it has 612,000).
United Kingdom's centre is 29.8° of latitude, about 3,320 km, farther north than Western Sahara's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	United Kingdom	2.69×
More people	United Kingdom	110×
More crowded	United Kingdom	40.8×
Farther north	United Kingdom	29.8° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	United Kingdom	2.9× against 1.2×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	United Kingdom	Western Sahara
Belgium 30,700 km²	7.95×	2.95×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.68×	0.25×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.65×	0.24×
France 548,000 km²	0.44×	0.17×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.08×	0.03×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.03×	0.01×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.03×	0.01×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.01×	0.01×

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

Side by side

	United Kingdom	Western Sahara
Area, main territory	244,000 km²94,100 mi²	90,500 km²34,900 mi²
Population	67.3 millionWikidata, 2021	612,000Wikidata, 2021
Density	276 per km²	6.8 per km²
Official area	242,000 km²Wikidata	266,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	London	–
Latitude range	50°N to 61°N	21°N to 28°N
Continent	Europe	Africa

Population: Wikidata 2021, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 242,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 244,000 km², to within 2%.
Our measured 90,500 km² is 66% below Wikidata's official figure of 266,000 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 United Kingdom

Similar in size to Western Sahara

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