State of Germany

Bavaria

Bavaria is a state of Germany. It covers about 70,000 km² (27,000 mi²), the largest of the 16 states in Natural Earth’s file for Germany, and about the same size as Georgia. About 13.0 million people live there (Wikidata, 2022).

In area1.01×the size ofGeorgia69,600 km² In people1.04×as many people asSouth Sudan12.6 million

100 km

Bavaria
Georgia

Facts

Area, measured	70,000 km²27,000 mi²
Official area	70,600 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure
Share of Germany	20%of the area of the 16 states
Rank by area	1st of 16states of Germany
Population	13.0 millionWikidata, 2022 · the census year of every unit
Density	186 people per km²
Capital	Munich
Latitude range	47°N to 51°N
Type	StateDE-BY

What the numbers say about Bavaria

Bavaria covers 20% of the area of Germany and ranks 2nd of 16 by population, against 1st by area.
It would take 5.11 states the size of Bavaria to cover Germany.
Bavaria holds 16% of the 83.0 million people that Wikidata’s 2022 figures give for the 16 states together: about 1 in 6.
The smallest, Bremen, is 0.6% of the size of Bavaria; the next largest, Lower Saxony, is 68%.
Closest in size within Germany: Lower Saxony (47,600 km², 1.47×) and Baden-Württemberg (36,100 km², 1.94×).
Counted as a country, Bavaria would be larger than 119 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 121st by area, between the United Arab Emirates (71,100 km²) and Georgia (69,600 km²).
With 13.0 million people it would rank 78th of 238 by population.
Bavaria has 186 people per km², about the density of Uganda, which has 195 per km².
That makes Bavaria the 11th most densely populated of the 16 states, 80% of the average for Germany (232 per km²).
On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 49°N is drawn about 2.3× too large in area, so Bavaria looks bigger there than it is.
Laid out flat, Bavaria stretches about 366 km north to south and 350 km east to west.
Wikidata's official figure of 70,600 km² agrees with our measured area of 70,000 km², to within 2%.

About the same size as

About as many people as

Beside the regions of other countries

The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.

Compare Bavaria

Sources and method

Outline: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
Official figures: Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
Population: Wikidata, 2022. Germany’s units share the 2022 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
Matching: Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
Data built: 2026-11-12

Full method

Bavaria

Facts

What the numbers say about Bavaria

About the same size as

About as many people as

Beside the regions of other countries

Where Bavaria sits in Germany

Ranked within Germany

Compare Bavaria

Bavaria

Facts

What the numbers say about Bavaria

About the same size as

About as many people as

Beside the regions of other countries

Where Bavaria sits in Germany

Ranked within Germany

Compare Bavaria

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