The True Size of France
Compare France with other countries and regions on an interactive map to see their actual relative sizes.
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Type a country name and press Enter to add it to the map.
How big is France?
France covers about 643,801 km² (248,573 sq mi). On a Mercator map its apparent size depends entirely on latitude — drag the outline above onto another part of the world to see how it really compares.
France on a Mercator map
The centre of this country lies at 43° N, where the Mercator projection stretches area by about 1.9×. Its outline takes up as much room on the map as 1,231,968 km² would at the equator.
Its real area is 643,801 km². The country closest to that size: Afghanistan.
France compared with other countries
Total areas including inland water; ratios are rounded.
| Country | Area (km²) | Compared with France |
|---|---|---|
 Russia | 17,098,242 | 27× larger |
 Canada | 9,984,670 | 16× larger |
 United States | 9,833,517 | 15× larger |
 China | 9,596,960 | 15× larger |
 Brazil | 8,515,770 | 13× larger |
 Australia | 7,741,220 | 12× larger |
 India | 3,287,263 | 5.1× larger |
 Argentina | 2,780,400 | 4.3× larger |
 Greenland | 2,166,086 | 3.4× larger |
 Mexico | 1,964,375 | 3.1× larger |
 Indonesia | 1,904,569 | 3× larger |
 Pakistan | 796,095 | 1.2× larger |
 Ukraine | 603,550 | 1.1× smaller |
 Japan | 377,915 | 1.7× smaller |
 Poland | 312,685 | 2.1× smaller |
 New Zealand | 268,838 | 2.4× smaller |
 United Kingdom | 243,610 | 2.6× smaller |
 Netherlands | 41,543 | 15× smaller |
Countries closest in size to France
Measured on the globe from the same outlines the map draws, so the figures are approximate. Drag any of them next to France to see the difference for yourself.
Slightly larger
Afghanistan642,060 km²1.1% larger
Myanmar (Burma)662,748 km²4.4% larger
Chile737,444 km²16.1% larger
Slightly smaller
South Sudan624,000 km²1.7% smaller
Central African Republic620,988 km²2.2% smaller
Kenya594,850 km²6.3% smaller
How big France looks at other latitudes
Drag the outline so its centre sits on each of these latitudes and the map draws it this many times larger than its real area. Mercator stretches area roughly by the square of the scale, so the growth is steep.
| Where it actually sits (43° N) | 1.9× its real size |
| At the equator (Indonesia, Kenya, Ecuador) | its real size |
| At 30° (Egypt, northern Mexico, central Argentina) | 1.3× its real size |
| At 45° (northern Italy, Minnesota, New Zealand) | 2.1× its real size |
| At 60° (Oslo, Helsinki, southern Alaska) | 4.3× its real size |
| At 72° (central Greenland) | 12.6× its real size |
Questions about the size of France
How big is France?+
France has a total area of about 643,801 km² (248,573 sq mi), including inland water. The country closest to it in size is Afghanistan.
Is France bigger than Afghanistan?+
Not quite. Afghanistan covers about 642,060 km², roughly 1.1% more than France. Put both on the map and the difference stays the same wherever you drag them, because every outline is drawn at its true size.
Why does France look bigger on a map than it really is?+
Because the Mercator projection stretches area the further you get from the equator. The centre of France is at 43° N, where the map draws it about 1.9× too large — as much room as 1,231,968 km² would take at the equator. Drag the outline toward the equator and it shrinks to its honest size.