Autonomous city of Spain
Melilla
Melilla is an autonomous city of Spain. It covers about 12 km² (4.7 mi²), the 19th largest of the 19 autonomous communities and cities in Natural Earth’s file for Spain, and 58% of the size of Nauru. About 86,000 people live there (Wikidata, 2024).
The boundary or political status of Melilla is contested. Size Versus draws the Natural Earth de facto outline and takes no position on it.
2 km
- Nauru
- Melilla
Facts
| Area, measured | 12.3 km²4.7 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 12.3 km²Wikidata · 47% below our measure |
| Share of Spain | less than 0.1%of the area of the 19 autonomous communities and cities |
| Rank by area | 19th of 19autonomous communities and cities of Spain |
| Population | 86,000Wikidata, 2024 |
| Density | 6,977 people per km² |
| Capital | Melilla |
| Latitude range | 35°N to 35°N |
| Type | Autonomous cityES-ML |
What the numbers say about Melilla
- Melilla covers less than 0.1% of the area of Spain and ranks 18th of 19 by population, against 19th by area.
- It would take 41,208 autonomous communities and cities the size of Melilla to cover Spain.
- The largest, Castile and León, is 7,706× the size of Melilla, the smallest of the 19.
- Closest in size within Spain: Ceuta (18.5 km², 1.50×) and Balearic Islands (5,120 km², 416×).
- Counted as a country, Melilla would be larger than 6 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 234th by area, between Nauru (21.2 km²) and United States Minor Outlying Islands (12.1 km²).
- With 86,000 people it would rank 198th of 238 by population.
- Melilla has 6,977 people per km².
- That makes Melilla the most densely populated of the 19 autonomous communities and cities, 72.8× the average for Spain (96 per km²).
- Melilla has 279× the density of Extremadura, the least crowded of the 19: 6,977 against 25 people per km².
- On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 35°N is drawn about 1.5× too large in area, so Melilla looks bigger there than it is.
- Laid out flat, Melilla stretches about 6.9 km north to south and 4.9 km east to west.
- Our measured 18.1 km² is 47% above Wikidata's official figure of 12.3 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently. This difference is flagged for review.
- Natural Earth draws Melilla from only 6 points, and the outline measures 18.1 km², 47% above the official 12.3 km². The area shown for Melilla is the official figure; take the shape as a sketch.
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.
- IndiaAreanone within 2×PeopleLakshadweep1.33× · 64,000 (2011)
- ItalyAreanone within 2×PeopleAosta Valley68% · 126,000 (2019)
- CanadaAreanone within 2×PeoplePrince Edward Island56% · 154,000 (2021)
Where Melilla sits in Spain
All 19 drawn on one equal-area map, so sizes are comparable. Select another to open it.
Share this outline
Sources and method
- Outline
- Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain: the one province in the file that makes up this autonomous city, so nothing is joined.
- Boundary
- De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth. The political status of this unit is contested; Size Versus takes no position on it.
- 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