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USA vs Africa Size: How Much Bigger Is Africa?

By Marko Visic · Updated Nov 11, 2026

Africa's 54 states and Western Sahara cover 11,807,872 sq mi and the USA 3,796,742 sq mi, so by total area Africa is 3.11× the USA: three whole USAs fit inside it with 417,646 sq mi to spare. On a Mercator world map the gap shrinks to about 1.5×, because the projection stretches the USA and barely stretches Africa. Africa also has 4.46× as many people.

The contiguous United States tiled 3.78 times inside Africa. With Alaska and Hawaii, Africa is 3.11 times the USA.The contiguous US fits inside Africa 3.8 timesAfrica 11,807,872 sq mi · contiguous US 3,120,426 sq mi · Alaska and Hawaii not drawnAfrica1230.78Each shape = 1 Contiguous USsimplemaplab.com/size-comparisons/usa-vs-africa · CC-BY 4.0
The contiguous 48 states drawn 3.78 times inside Africa: three full copies and a dashed partial one. Each copy is scaled to the area ratio in the table. Alaska and Hawaii, 18% of US area, are not drawn; with them Africa is 3.11× the USA. Africa in a Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection centered on the equator at 20°E.
Check this for yourself
Drag the USA across African countries in the interactive tool
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USA vs Africa by the numbers

MetricUSAAfricaRatio
Total area (sq mi)3,796,74211,807,872Africa 3.11×
Land area (sq mi)3,531,90511,586,101Africa 3.28×
Population (USA July 1, 2025; Africa latest Factbook estimates)341,784,8571,525,694,116Africa 4.46×
People per sq mi of land97132Africa 1.36×
GDP, current US$ (2025)$30.86T$3.16T (IMF Africa region)USA 9.75×
Countries or states50 states + DC54 countries + Western Sahara
Largest state or country (land area)Alaska, 570,641 sq miAlgeria, 919,595 sq miAlgeria 1.61×
Highest pointMount McKinley (Denali), 20,310 ftKilimanjaro, 19,341 ftUSA 1.05×
Longest riverMissouri, 2,341 miNile, 4,132 miAfrica 1.76×
Largest lake (whole lake, sq mi)Superior, 31,699 (shared with Canada)Victoria, 24,301Superior 1.30×
Drawn area on a Mercator map ÷ true area2.291.12USA 2.04×

Africa's area, land and population are sums over the CIA World Factbook entries for its 54 states and Western Sahara; the population estimates are 39 for 2025, 15 for 2024, 1 for 2020. Ratios divide the larger figure by the smaller.

How much bigger is Africa than the USA?

The CIA World Factbook has no entry for Africa, so this page adds up the total areas of Africa's 54 states and Western Sahara: 11,807,872 sq mi (30,582,247 km²). Against the USA's 3,796,742 sq mi, Africa is 3.11× larger. Three whole USAs fit inside it, leaving 417,646 sq mi, a little less than Texas and California combined (432,291 sq mi). The Factbook's US entry describes the USA as about three-tenths the size of Africa.

The map above draws the contiguous 48 states, 3,120,426 sq mi, which fit inside Africa 3.78 times. The Factbook ranks Africa second of the seven continents, after Asia, and counts 54 countries in it, more than on any other continent.

Why Africa looks smaller on many maps

Google Maps uses the Mercator projection, which enlarges land by 1/cos² of its latitude. Africa straddles the equator and gains little; the USA and Greenland sit much farther north. Measured on our own map data run through a Mercator projection, Africa's outline grows to 1.12× its true area, the USA's, Alaska included, to 2.29× and Greenland's to 16.4×.

On a Mercator world map, then, Africa looks 1.52× the size of the USA instead of 3.11×, and Greenland is drawn 1.04× the size of Africa, which is in fact 14.1× Greenland (Greenland vs USA).

What fits inside Africa

The USA, China and India together cover 8,771,368 sq mi, 74% of Africa. Add Europe without Russia, Turkey and the Caucasus, 45 countries and 2,281,579 sq mi, and the total reaches 94% of Africa's area.

Algeria, Africa's largest country at 919,595 sq mi, has more land than Alaska and Texas combined (831,873 sq mi). Next come the Democratic Republic of the Congo (905,355 sq mi) and Sudan (718,723 sq mi). The Sahara alone, about 3,552,000 sq mi (9.2 million km²) in the Factbook's list of deserts, is 94% of the USA's area and 1.14× the contiguous 48 states; it spreads across Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara.

Population: 4.46× as many people in Africa

Adding up the CIA World Factbook's latest estimates for Africa's 55 entries gives 1,525,694,116 people, against 341,784,857 in the USA on July 1, 2025 (Census Bureau). Per square mile of land that is 132 people in Africa and 97 in the USA. Nigeria, the most populous African country, had 244,344,065 people (2025 estimate), 71% of the US population on 1.35× the land area of Texas.

In the IMF's World Economic Outlook (October 2026), GDP for its Africa region was $3.16 trillion in 2025 and US GDP $30.86 trillion, both in current US dollars, so the US economy was 9.75× Africa's.

Mountains, rivers and lakes

Mount McKinley (Denali), 20,310 ft (6,190 m), the highest point in North America, stands 969 ft above Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest at 19,341 ft (5,895 m). The Factbook's list of the world's longest rivers puts the Nile first, at 4,132 mi (6,650 km), against 3,899 mi (6,275 km) for the Mississippi-Missouri system; on its own the Missouri, the longest river in the Factbook's US list, runs 2,341 mi (3,768 km). Lake Victoria, which the Factbook calls the world's second-largest freshwater lake, covers 24,301 sq mi (62,940 km²); Lake Superior, shared by the USA and Canada, covers 31,699 sq mi (82,100 km²).

Drawn to scale: Africa next to the USA

Both at the same area per pixel, side by side. The US drawing is the contiguous 48 states.

Africa and the contiguous United States side by side at the same equal-area scale.Africa is 3.78× the contiguous US and 3.11× the whole USAAfrica11,807,872 sq miContiguous US3,120,426 sq mi
Both drawn to scale in equal-area projections, Africa in a Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection centered on the equator at 20°E and the contiguous US in US Albers (parallels 29.5°N and 45.5°N). Alaska and Hawaii are not drawn.

What else is about the size of Africa?

By total area (CIA World Factbook):

Methodology and sources

Area
Africa: the sum of the total (and land) areas in the CIA World Factbook, final edition, for its 54 states and Western Sahara, for example Algeria and Nigeria. USA: US Census Bureau, State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates (2010) (the total includes inland, coastal, Great Lakes and territorial water); the contiguous US is that total less Alaska and Hawaii; state land areas from the same table. China, India, Russia and Greenland: the Factbook entries for China, India, Russia and Greenland; Europe without Russia is the sum of 45 Factbook entries, France without its overseas regions. Continents and country counts: CIA World Factbook, World entry.
Population
USA and states: US Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates (July 1, 2025). Africa: the sum of the Factbook's latest estimates for its 55 entries (39 for 2025, 15 for 2024, 1 for 2020).
GDP
IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2026), GDP in current US dollars (2025): the USA and the IMF's Africa (Region) aggregate, from the same release.
Deserts, rivers, lakes, highest points
The Factbook's World entry (largest deserts, longest rivers, largest lakes), its Tanzania entry (Kilimanjaro, Lake Victoria) and its United States entry (Mount McKinley, the Missouri). Miles are converted from the Factbook's kilometers.
Mercator distortion
Factors computed from our map data (world-atlas, Natural Earth 1:50m) with a Mercator projection: drawn area divided by true area for each outline. Google Maps' use of the projection: Google Maps Platform documentation, Map and tile coordinates (accessed November 11, 2026).
Drawings
Shapes from us-atlas (US Census Bureau cartographic boundaries) and world-atlas (Natural Earth 1:50m) for the drawings; Africa is drawn as the union of its country outlines. The US is drawn as the contiguous 48 states and scaled with their area (3,120,426 sq mi, Census 2010 total less Alaska and Hawaii); each copy in the tiled map is scaled to the area ratio in the table.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Africa's 54 states and Western Sahara cover 11,807,872 sq mi, summed from their CIA World Factbook areas, and the USA covers 3,796,742 sq mi, so Africa is 3.11× the USA by total area. The Factbook's US entry puts it the other way: the USA is about three-tenths the size of Africa.
3.11. Three whole USAs cover 11,390,226 sq mi, leaving 417,646 sq mi of Africa, a little less than Texas and California combined (432,291 sq mi). The contiguous 48 states fit inside Africa 3.78 times.
On Mercator maps, Google Maps among them, land is enlarged more the closer it is to the poles and only a little near the equator. Africa straddles the equator; the USA and Greenland do not. On our map data a Mercator map enlarges Africa 1.12×, the USA with Alaska 2.29× and Greenland 16.4×, so Africa looks only 1.52× the USA's size and about as big as Greenland, which it outsizes 14.1 times.
11,807,872 sq mi (30,582,247 km²), the sum of the CIA World Factbook's total areas for the 54 African states and Western Sahara. The Factbook ranks Africa second among the seven continents, after Asia, and counts more countries in Africa, 54, than on any other continent.
Yes. Together they cover 8,771,368 sq mi, 74% of Africa's area. Adding Europe without Russia (2,281,579 sq mi, 45 countries) brings the total to 94% of Africa, all on CIA World Factbook and Census areas.
About 1.53 billion, the sum of the CIA World Factbook's latest estimates for Africa's 55 entries, against 341,784,857 in the USA on July 1, 2025 (Census Bureau): 4.46× as many. Per square mile of land that is 132 people in Africa and 97 in the USA.
Algeria, 919,595 sq mi on the CIA World Factbook's figures, ahead of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (905,355 sq mi) and Sudan (718,723 sq mi). Algeria's land area is 1.61× Alaska's and more than Alaska and Texas combined (831,873 sq mi of land).
The CIA World Factbook gives the Sahara about 3,552,000 sq mi (9.2 million km²), across Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara. That is 94% of the USA's area and 1.14× the contiguous 48 states.
Yes. The CIA World Factbook lists the Nile as the world's longest river at 4,132 mi (6,650 km), 1.76× the Missouri, 2,341 mi (3,768 km), the longest river in its US list. Counted as one system, the Mississippi-Missouri is 3,899 mi (6,275 km).
No. Mount McKinley (Denali), 20,310 ft (6,190 m), is the highest point in North America, and Kilimanjaro, 19,341 ft (5,895 m), the highest in Africa, both on the CIA World Factbook's figures. McKinley is 969 ft higher.
In the IMF's World Economic Outlook (October 2026), GDP in 2025 was $30.86 trillion for the USA and $3.16 trillion for the IMF's Africa region, in current US dollars, so the US economy was 9.75× Africa's.

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Suggested citation: SimpleMapLab (2026). USA vs Africa Size. Retrieved from https://www.simplemaplab.com/size-comparisons/usa-vs-africa. CC-BY 4.0.