Africa vs Australia: bigger by how much?
Africa measures 7,887 km (4,901 mi) north to south, and Australia measures 4,036 km (2,508 mi) east to west. Australia would have to grow by 95% to match Africa, which is 1.95 times its measured size. The two are not judged on the same axis: Africa is quoted as a north-south span and Australia as an east-west span, so the honest statement is one figure against the other, 51% of it, and not one outline against another. Africa and Australia are both written in thousands of kilometres, and the 95% between them is the whole of the difference.
| Object | Real size | Axis measured | What the figure covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 7,887 km 4,901 mi |
North-south span | Widest extent of the outline on that axis |
| Australia | 4,036 km 2,508 mi |
East-west span | Country |
Both figures, Africa and Australia, come from the Size It Up measurement set, one real-world size and one measured axis per object, last checked in September 2026; outline provenance is listed on the sources page.
Why this one is hard to judge by eye
The outline of Africa that most people carry comes from a world map, and every projection that keeps angles true stretches whatever sits far from the equator; the outline of Australia above is scaled from measured distances instead.
What each figure covers
Africa. The span runs north to south, Mediterranean coast to the Cape. It is the figure most world maps understate, because projections that keep angles true stretch everything far from the equator.
Australia. Australia is measured east to west across the mainland outline. On most world maps it looks smaller than Greenland, which is an artefact of the projection rather than a fact about either.
Africa is quoted as a north-south span and Australia as an east-west span: two conventions, so the ratio compares the two numbers rather than the two objects.