Africa · Eastern Africa
Kenya
Kenya covers about 586,000 km² (226,000 mi²), the 47th largest of the 246 places listed here. That is close to Morocco, at about 592,000 km².
- 586,000km²Area, main territory
- 48.5 millionPopulation
- 19.1In Belgiums
200 km
- Kenya
Facts
| Area, main territory | 586,000 km²226,000 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 581,000 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure |
| In Belgiums | 19.1 |
| Capital | Nairobi |
| Population | 48.5 millionWikidata, 2017 |
| Density | 83 people per km² |
| Latitude range | 5°S to 5°N |
| In other languages | Kenia Español · Kenia Deutsch · Quênia Português · ケニア 日本語 · 肯尼亚 中文 · 케냐 한국어 |
| Continent | Africa#22 of 54 countries by area |
What the numbers say about Kenya
- Russia, the largest place listed, is 29.0× the size of Kenya.
- At 83 people per km², Kenya is the 82nd most densely populated of the 185 places over 1,000 km²; the median is 72 per km².
- Kenya lies at 1°N, close to the equator, where a standard web map (Web Mercator) is nearly true to size: it inflates area by only about 1.0×.
- Laid out flat, Kenya's main territory stretches about 1,080 km north to south and 887 km east to west.
- Wikidata's official figure of 581,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 586,000 km², to within 2%.
How Kenya measures up
Kenya holds 2.0% of the land area and 3.4% of the people of the 54 countries listed for Africa. In Eastern Africa it is the 7th largest of 17.
| Where it ranks | Figure | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 586,000 km² | 46th of 239 |
| Population | 48.5 million | 30th of 237 |
| Density | 83 per km² | 82nd of 185 |
| Farthest north | 0.6°N | 170th of 212 |
| Compared with | Its area | Kenya is |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 30,700 km² | 19.1× its size |
| United Kingdom | 244,000 km² | 2.40× its size |
| Germany | 358,000 km² | 1.64× its size |
| Japan | 374,000 km² | 1.57× its size |
| France | 548,000 km² | 1.07× its size |
| India | 3,151,000 km² | 0.19× its size |
| Brazil | 8,473,000 km² | 0.07× its size |
| United States | 9,447,000 km² | 0.06× its size |
| Russia | 16,980,000 km² | 0.03× its size |
Where Kenya sits
- Kenya's centre lies at 0.6°N, 37.8°E, in the northern and eastern hemispheres, about 60 km from the equator.
- It straddles the equator, spanning 5°S to 5°N.
Closest neighbours, by distance between centres
On the same latitude, elsewhere in the world
If Kenya had other densities
- At Bangladesh's density of 1,252 people per km², Kenya would have 733.6 million people. It has 48.5 million.
- At Canada's density of 3.7 people per km², Kenya would have 2.2 million people. It has 48.5 million.
- At the median density of the places listed, 72 per km², it would have 42.4 million.
About the same size as
Largest in Africa
Compare Kenya
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Sources and method
- Outline
- Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 - Countries, public domain
- Boundary
- De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
- 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, 2017; covers the whole country, overseas territory included
- Data built
- 2026-11-11