Texas vs France Size: How Much Bigger Is Texas?

By Marko Visic · Updated Nov 11, 2026

Texas has 261,232 sq mi of land and metropolitan France, the part of the country in Europe, 212,345 sq mi, so by land area Texas is 1.23× France, larger by 48,887 sq mi. Metropolitan France has 2.11× as many people and France the larger economy in US dollars. In 1839 France became the first European country to recognize the independent Republic of Texas.

Metropolitan France drawn over Texas, both in equal-area projections at one scale. France's land is 81% of Texas's; its five overseas regions are not drawn.

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Texas vs France by the numbers

Metric	Texas	France	Ratio
Land area (sq mi), metropolitan France	261,232	212,345	Texas 1.23×
Total area (sq mi), metropolitan France*	268,596	212,935	Texas 1.26×
Land area (sq mi), France with its overseas regions	261,232	247,270	Texas 1.06×
Population (Texas July 1, 2025; metropolitan France January 1, 2026)	31,709,821	66,792,845	France 2.11×
People per sq mi of land	121	315	France 2.59×
GDP, current US$ (2025)	$2.93T	$3.38T	France 1.15×
GDP per person, current US$†	$92,474	$49,372	Texas 1.87×
Coastline (mi)	367 (NOAA general coastline)	2,129 (Factbook, metropolitan)
Standard time zones	2 (UTC-6, UTC-7)	1 in metropolitan France (UTC+1)

* The Census total for Texas includes inland, coastal and territorial water; the Factbook total for France includes no sea. † France's GDP divided by the Factbook population of France with its overseas regions. Ratios divide the larger figure by the smaller; the coastlines come from different sources and get no ratio.

Which is bigger: Texas or France?

Texas, on every measure of area. By land it is 1.23× metropolitan France: 261,232 sq mi (676,587 km²) against 212,345 sq mi (549,970 km²), a difference of 48,887 sq mi, about the land area of North Carolina (48,618 sq mi). Metropolitan France is the country without its five overseas regions: French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte and Reunion. With them, France has 247,270 sq mi of land and Texas is still 1.06× larger.

Comparing total areas instead gives 1.08. The Census total for Texas, 268,596 sq mi, counts 7,365 sq mi of inland, coastal and territorial water, and the CIA World Factbook total for France, 248,573 sq mi, counts the overseas regions. The Factbook's own France entry describes the country as “slightly less than the size of Texas.” The maps on this page draw metropolitan France only, at its land area.

Population: 2.11× as many people in metropolitan France

Metropolitan France had 66,792,845 residents on January 1, 2026 (INSEE, provisional) and Texas 31,709,821 on July 1, 2025 (Census Bureau). On 81% of Texas's land area, that makes 315 people per square mile in metropolitan France against 121 in Texas, 2.59× as dense. With its five overseas regions, France had 68.5 million people in the CIA World Factbook's 2025 estimate.

The economy: France's is larger, Texas leads per person

France's GDP in 2025 was $3.38 trillion in current US dollars in the IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2026), and Texas's was $2.93 trillion in the Bureau of Economic Analysis state accounts, so France's economy was 1.15× the size of Texas's; the IMF figure covers the country and the BEA figure the state, both for 2025. Per person the order reverses: about $92,474 in Texas and $49,372 in France, dividing France's GDP by the Factbook population for the whole country, overseas regions included.

France and the Republic of Texas

The Republic of Texas, which had broken away from Mexico in 1836, won recognition from the United States on March 3, 1837 (US Department of State, Office of the Historian). France followed in 1839 as the first European country to recognize Texas. The Netherlands and Belgium came in 1840, and Britain signed a treaty of commerce and navigation with Texas on November 13, 1840, which Queen Victoria ratified on May 26, 1842 (Texas State Library and Archives Commission). The republic ended when Texas joined the United States on December 29, 1845; Mexico vs Texas covers independence and annexation.

Coastlines and time zones

NOAA's general coastline, which follows the general outline of the seacoast, gives Texas 367 miles on the Gulf (1975). NOAA's tidal shoreline, which also counts offshore islands, sounds, bays, rivers and creeks up to the head of tidewater, gives 3,359 miles. The CIA World Factbook gives metropolitan France 2,129 mi (3,427 km) of coastline and all of France, 3,016 mi (4,853 km). Coastline lengths depend on the scale of the charts used, so figures from different agencies do not compare exactly.

Texas has two standard time zones under federal law: Central (UTC-6), and Mountain (UTC-7) west of the eastern line of Hudspeth County, which puts El Paso and Hudspeth counties on Mountain Time. Metropolitan France keeps one standard time, UTC+1, seven hours ahead of Austin and Dallas; its overseas regions run from UTC-4 in Guadeloupe and Martinique to UTC+4 in Reunion.

Drawn to scale: Texas next to France

Both at the same area per pixel, side by side. France is drawn as metropolitan France.

Texas in a US Albers projection (parallels 29.5°N and 45.5°N), metropolitan France in a conic equal-area projection (parallels 44°N and 50°N), at one scale.

What is Texas the size of in Europe?

By land area Texas is larger than any of the 45 countries in our Europe-without-Russia list, which also leaves out Turkey, Kazakhstan and the Caucasus states (CIA World Factbook areas, with France as metropolitan France):

Ukraine, the largest of them, has 223,681 sq mi of land; Texas has 1.17× as much.
Texas has 1.36× the land of Spain and 1.94× that of Germany.
Texas has 2.30× the land of Italy and 2.80× that of the United Kingdom (California vs UK).

Methodology and sources

Area: Texas: US Census Bureau, State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates (2010) (the land area; the total adds inland, coastal and territorial water). France: CIA World Factbook, final edition: France, total and land area for metropolitan France and for France with its five overseas regions. Other European countries: their CIA World Factbook entries, final edition.
Population: Texas: US Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates (July 1, 2025). Metropolitan France: INSEE, Population totale au 1er janvier, France métropolitaine (series 000067670), January 1, 2026, provisional (series updated January 13, 2026). France with its overseas regions: CIA World Factbook, 2025 estimate.
GDP: Texas: US Bureau of Economic Analysis, GDP by state (2025, current dollars). France: IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2026), GDP in current US dollars (2025). GDP per person divides each by the population above; for France, the Factbook population with the overseas regions.
Coastline: Texas: NOAA, The Coastline of the United States (1975): general coastline by state, as reprinted in Congressional Research Service report RS21729 and NOAA Office for Coastal Management, Shoreline Mileage of the United States (tidal shoreline). France: CIA World Factbook, final edition: France; miles are converted from the Factbook's kilometers.
Time zones: Texas: Code of Federal Regulations, 49 CFR Part 71, Standard Time Zone Boundaries, where § 71.7(e) runs the line between the Central and Mountain zones down the east line of Hudspeth County. France: CIA World Factbook, time difference and its note on the overseas regions.
History: US Department of State, Office of the Historian: A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, since 1776: Texas (retrieved November 11, 2026). Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Texas Annexation exhibit, part 2 (page last modified December 2, 2014) and Document Spotlight: Treaties of the Republic of Texas (page last modified February 23, 2022).
Drawings: Shapes from us-atlas (US Census Bureau cartographic boundaries) and world-atlas (Natural Earth 1:50m) for the drawings. Texas and metropolitan France are scaled to their land areas; France's overseas regions are not drawn.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. By land area Texas is 1.23× metropolitan France: 261,232 sq mi against 212,345 sq mi, 48,887 sq mi more, about the land area of North Carolina. Counting France's five overseas regions, France has 247,270 sq mi of land and Texas is still 1.06× larger.

They compare total areas. The Census total for Texas, 268,596 sq mi, includes 7,365 sq mi of inland, coastal and territorial water, and the CIA World Factbook total for France, 248,573 sq mi, includes the overseas regions of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte and Reunion. Land against land, with metropolitan France, the ratio is 1.23.

Metropolitan France, the part of the country in Europe, covers 212,935 sq mi (551,500 km²), of which 212,345 sq mi (549,970 km²) is land, on the CIA World Factbook's figures. With its five overseas regions France covers 248,573 sq mi (643,801 km²). The Factbook calls France the largest Western European nation.

Metropolitan France had 66,792,845 residents on January 1, 2026 (INSEE, provisional) and Texas 31,709,821 on July 1, 2025 (Census Bureau), so France has 2.11× as many people. That is 315 people per square mile of land in metropolitan France and 121 in Texas. With its overseas regions France had 68.5 million people in the CIA World Factbook's 2025 estimate.

France, by 1.15×. Its GDP in 2025 was $3.38 trillion in the IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2026) and Texas's was $2.93 trillion (Bureau of Economic Analysis), both in current US dollars. Per person Texas is ahead, about $92,474 against $49,372 in France.

Yes, in 1839, the first European country to do so. The Netherlands and Belgium followed in 1840 and Britain after them (Texas State Library and Archives Commission). The United States had recognized Texas on March 3, 1837 (US Department of State, Office of the Historian).

France's five overseas regions, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte and Reunion, add 35,638 sq mi (92,301 km²) to metropolitan France, 14% of the country's total area on the CIA World Factbook's figures. They are not drawn on this page's maps.

Texas has two: Central Time (UTC-6) and, in El Paso and Hudspeth counties, Mountain Time (UTC-7), under 49 CFR Part 71. Metropolitan France keeps one, UTC+1, so Paris is seven hours ahead of Austin in standard time. France's overseas regions keep their own times, from UTC-4 in Guadeloupe and Martinique to UTC+4 in Reunion (CIA World Factbook).

NOAA gives Texas 367 miles of general coastline, which follows the general outline of the seacoast (1975), and 3,359 miles of tidal shoreline, which also counts offshore islands, sounds, bays, rivers and creeks up to the head of tidewater. The CIA World Factbook gives metropolitan France 2,129 mi (3,427 km) of coastline and all of France 3,016 mi (4,853 km). Coastline lengths depend on the scale of the charts used, so the two sources do not compare exactly.

By land area Texas is larger than any of the 45 countries in our Europe-without-Russia list, which also leaves out Turkey, Kazakhstan and the Caucasus states. The largest of them, Ukraine, has 223,681 sq mi of land; Texas has 1.17× that, 1.36× Spain's, 1.94× Germany's and 2.80× the United Kingdom's (CIA World Factbook).

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Suggested citation: SimpleMapLab (2026). Texas vs France Size. Retrieved from https://www.simplemaplab.com/size-comparisons/texas-vs-france. CC-BY 4.0.