Europe · Western Europe

France

France covers about 548,000 km² (212,000 mi²), the 50th largest of the 246 places listed here. That is close to Ukraine, at about 572,000 km².

548,000km²Area, main territory
68.6 millionPopulation
17.9In Belgiums

200 km

France

The outline shows the main territory. Overseas parts, about 88,900 km² in all, are counted in the figure “with overseas territory” below but are not drawn.

Facts

Area, main territory	548,000 km²212,000 mi²
Area with overseas territory	637,000 km²246,000 mi²
Official area	644,000 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure
In Belgiums	17.9
Capital	Paris
Population	68.6 millionWikidata, 2025
Density	108 people per km²
Latitude range	41°N to 51°N
In other languages	Francia Español · Frankreich Deutsch · França Português · フランス日本語 · 法国中文 · 프랑스 한국어
Continent	Europe#3 of 50 countries by area

What the numbers say about France

Russia, the largest place listed, is 31.0× the size of France.
France ranks 20th of 237 by population but only 49th of 239 by area: it holds more people than its size suggests.
At 108 people per km², France is the 63rd most densely populated of the 185 places over 1,000 km²; the median is 72 per km².
On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 47°N is drawn about 2.1× too large in area, so France looks bigger there than it is.
Laid out flat, France's main territory stretches about 1,060 km north to south and 1,120 km east to west.
Counting overseas territory, France grows from 548,000 km² to 637,000 km², 16% more.
Wikidata's official figure of 644,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 637,000 km², to within 2%.

How France measures up

France holds 2.4% of the land area and 9.2% of the people of the 50 countries listed for Europe. In Western Europe it is the 1st largest of 9.

Where it ranks	Figure	Position
Area	548,000 km²	49th of 239
Population	68.6 million	20th of 237
Density	108 per km²	63rd of 185
Farthest north	46.5°N	34th of 212

Compared with	Its area	France is
Belgium	30,700 km²	17.9× its size
United Kingdom	244,000 km²	2.25× its size
Germany	358,000 km²	1.53× its size
Japan	374,000 km²	1.47× its size
India	3,151,000 km²	0.17× its size
Brazil	8,473,000 km²	0.06× its size
United States	9,447,000 km²	0.06× its size
Russia	16,980,000 km²	0.03× its size

Where France sits

France's centre lies at 46.5°N, 2.6°E, in the northern and eastern hemispheres, about 5,170 km from the equator.
Its main territory spans 41°N to 51°N, about 1,080 km from its southern edge to its northern.
The prime meridian passes through it.

Closest neighbours, by distance between centres

On the same latitude, elsewhere in the world

If France had other densities

At Bangladesh's density of 1,252 people per km², France would have 797.5 million people. It has 68.6 million.
At Canada's density of 3.7 people per km², France would have 2.4 million people. It has 68.6 million.
At the median density of the places listed, 72 per km², it would have 46.1 million.

Regions of France

Natural Earth’s file draws France as 101 departments; Size Versus joins them into 18 regions. Each has its own page, drawn at true size and matched to the countries closest to it in area and in people.

All 18 regions, matched to countries

About the same size as

Largest in Europe

Compare France

Sources and method

Outline: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 - Countries, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth. Main territory: the landmass and every part within 1,000 km of it.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded
Official figures: Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-11
Population: Wikidata, 2025; covers the whole country, overseas territory included
Data built: 2026-11-11

Full method