Autonomous community of Spain
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain. It covers about 32,000 km² (12,300 mi²), the 6th largest of the 19 autonomous communities and cities in Natural Earth’s file for Spain, and about the same size as Guinea-Bissau. About 8.0 million people live there (Wikidata, 2024).
100 km
- Guinea-Bissau
- Catalonia
Facts
| Area, measured | 32,000 km²12,300 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 31,900 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure |
| Share of Spain | 6.3%of the area of the 19 autonomous communities and cities |
| Rank by area | 6th of 19autonomous communities and cities of Spain |
| Population | 8.0 millionWikidata, 2024 |
| Density | 251 people per km² |
| Capital | Barcelona |
| Latitude range | 41°N to 43°N |
| Type | Autonomous communityES-CT |
What the numbers say about Catalonia
- Catalonia covers 6.3% of the area of Spain and ranks 2nd of 19 by population, against 6th by area.
- It would take 15.9 autonomous communities and cities the size of Catalonia to cover Spain.
- The largest, Castile and León, is 2.96× the size of Catalonia; the smallest, Melilla, is less than 0.1% of it.
- Closest in size within Spain: Galicia (29,600 km², 1.08×) and Extremadura (42,100 km², 1.32×).
- Counted as a country, Catalonia would be larger than 100 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 140th by area, between Guinea-Bissau (32,800 km²) and Belgium (30,700 km²).
- With 8.0 million people it would rank 101st of 238 by population.
- Catalonia has 251 people per km², about the density of the Gambia, which has 251 per km².
- That makes Catalonia the 6th most densely populated of the 19 autonomous communities and cities, 2.62× the average for Spain (96 per km²).
- On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 42°N is drawn about 1.8× too large in area, so Catalonia looks bigger there than it is.
- Laid out flat, Catalonia stretches about 258 km north to south and 262 km east to west.
- Wikidata's official figure of 31,900 km² agrees with our measured area of 32,000 km², to within 2%.
About the same size 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.
- ChinaAreaHainan0.94× · 33,800 km²PeopleNingxia1.12× · 7.2 million (2020)
- United StatesAreaMaryland1.26× · 25,500 km²PeopleWashington State1.04× · 7.7 million (2020)
- IndiaAreaKerala85% · 37,700 km²PeopleHimachal Pradesh1.17× · 6.9 million (2011)
- GermanyAreaBrandenburg1.06× · 30,000 km²PeopleLower Saxony1.01× · 7.9 million (2022)
- FranceAreaHauts-de-France1.00× · 32,000 km²PeopleAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes0.98× · 8.2 million (2022)
- ItalyAreaSicily (Italy)1.24× · 25,900 km²PeopleLombardy80% · 10.1 million (2019)
- JapanAreanone within 2×PeopleAichi1.07× · 7.5 million (2021)
- BrazilAreaAlagoas1.16× · 27,600 km²PeoplePará0.99× · 8.1 million (2022)
- CanadaAreaNova Scotia58% · 55,100 km²PeopleQuebec0.95× · 8.5 million (2021)
- AustraliaAreanone within 2×PeopleNew South Wales0.94× · 8.5 million (2024)
- MexicoAreaGuanajuato1.05× · 30,400 km²PeopleVeracruz0.99× · 8.1 million (2015)
- ThailandAreaChiang Mai1.40× · 22,800 km²PeopleBangkok1.42× · 5.7 million (2018)
Where Catalonia sits in Spain
All 19 drawn on one equal-area map, so sizes are comparable. Select another to open it.
Compare Catalonia
- Pará vs Catalonia
- Veracruz vs Catalonia
- Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes vs Catalonia
- Lower Saxony vs Catalonia
- Baden-Württemberg vs Catalonia
- Puebla vs Catalonia
- North Rhine-Westphalia vs Catalonia
- Hainan vs Catalonia
- Pays de la Loire vs Catalonia
- Hauts-de-France vs Catalonia
- Guinea-Bissau vs Catalonia
- Moldova vs Catalonia
- Catalonia vs Belgium
- Netherlands vs Catalonia
- Togo vs Catalonia
- Austria vs Catalonia
- Switzerland vs Catalonia
- Nova Scotia vs Catalonia
- Catalonia vs Alagoas
- Catalonia vs Maryland
- Kerala vs Catalonia
- Catalonia vs Guanajuato
- Catalonia vs Brandenburg
- Catalonia vs Sicily (Italy)
- Catalonia vs Chiang Mai
- Catalonia vs Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
Share this outline
Sources and method
- Outline
- Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain: the 4 provinces of this autonomous community in the file, joined along their shared borders.
- 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, 2024. Spain’s units share the 2024 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