How to compare two countries by size

Step by step: comparing two countries on Perspective Map

1. Open perspectivemaps.com. No account, nothing to install.
2. Type the first country into the Compare box on the right and pick it from the list. Its box is outlined on the map.
3. Type the second country. A comparison table appears under the map with both countries ranked on all five measures: area, population, density, GDP per person and total GDP, with bars drawn to scale.
4. Click Show only these. The map now packs just your two countries into the frame, so the larger one's box is exactly as many times bigger as the real country is. The side panel gives the ratio and each country's share of the world.
5. Switch the measure at the top of the page. Area becomes Population, and the boxes resize. Japan is a bit larger than Germany by area and much larger by population; Germany is larger by GDP.
6. Click Share link to copy a URL that opens this exact comparison, or Export image to save it as a picture.

Shift-click any box on the map or any row in the List view to add it to the comparison without typing.

Comparing a country with a whole continent

Sometimes the question is "how big is this country compared with Europe?" rather than with one other country. Under Show, pick a continent or a group (the European Union, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, the GCC, the African Union). Then use the drop-in box to add a country from elsewhere as a guest. The guest is drawn to scale among the continent's countries, and the panel says where it would rank. India dropped into Europe is the 2nd largest country by area and has more people than the whole continent. The United States dropped into Africa is 1st by area and 1st by population.

Example 1: Japan vs Germany

Japan is 377,975 km² and Germany 357,592 km², so Japan is 6 percent larger. Most people guess the other way, because Germany sits at 51°N and is stretched about 2.5 times on Google Maps, while Japan at 36°N is stretched about 1.5 times. Japan has 123.4 million people to Germany's 83.5 million. Germany's economy, $5.45 trillion, is larger than Japan's $4.38 trillion.

Example 2: United Kingdom vs Uganda

The United Kingdom is 243,610 km² and Uganda 241,550 km². They are the same size to within one percent. On Google Maps the United Kingdom looks about three times bigger, because it is at 54°N and Uganda straddles the equator. Uganda has 51.4 million people, the United Kingdom 69.5 million, and the United Kingdom's economy is 58 times larger.

Example 3: India vs Argentina

By area the two are closer than you would think. India is 3,287,263 km² and Argentina 2,780,400 km², a ratio of 1.2. By population the gap is huge. India has 1.46 billion people and Argentina 45.9 million, a ratio of 31. This is the case for comparing by more than one measure: "size" means different things, and a country can be big in one and small in another.

Other tools for comparing country sizes

The True Size Of (thetruesize.com) lets you drag one country's outline on top of another on a Mercator map, rescaling it as it moves. It is the best way to feel how much the map stretches things, and the worst way to get a number, because you are comparing two rotated shapes by eye. MapFight (mapfight.xyz) overlays two outlines at the same scale and states the ratio. Google Earth shows real shapes on a globe without distortion, but only for countries that are both facing you. For the numbers alone, Wikipedia's list of countries by area uses the same UN figures we do. How to see the true size of a country compares the three main tools.