How big is Israel compared with the United States?
The United States is about 451 times as big as Israel: 9 372 610 km² against 20 770 km².
How many times does it fit?
Israel would fit into the United States about 451 times. The number counts area, not shape: on a real map the smaller one would have to be cut up to fill the bigger one exactly.
Which has more people?
Israel has 8.9 million people, the United States has 326.7 million people. Israel is more crowded: about 428 people share each square kilometre, against 35 in the United States.
The two side by side
Israel
- Capital
- Jerusalem
- Continent
- Asia
- Area
- 20 770 km²
- People
- 8.9 million
United States
- Capital
- Washington D.C.
- Continent
- Americas
- Area
- 9 372 610 km²
- People
- 326.7 million
Why do maps get sizes wrong?
Most world maps on walls and in apps use the Mercator projection. It keeps shapes and directions right, which is why sailors loved it, but it stretches everything the further it is from the equator. Greenland looks as big as Africa on such a map, even though Africa is about fourteen times bigger.
The drawing on this page uses an equal-area projection centred on each place, so the two shapes can be compared fairly.
How big is a square kilometre?
A square kilometre (km²) is a square that measures one kilometre on each side. About 140 football pitches fit into it. So a country of 40 000 km² is as big as 40 000 such squares put together – that is more than five million football pitches.
Questions children ask
How big is Israel compared with the United States?
The United States is about 451 times as big as Israel: 9 372 610 km² against 20 770 km².
How many times does Israel fit into the United States?
Israel would fit into the United States about 451 times.
Where do more people live, in Israel or in the United States?
Israel has 8.9 million people, the United States has 326.7 million people.
Why does the size look different on a normal world map?
Most world maps on walls and in apps use the Mercator projection. It keeps shapes and directions right, which is why sailors loved it, but it stretches everything the further it is from the equator. Greenland looks as big as Africa on such a map, even though Africa is about fourteen times bigger.
Where these numbers come from
Areas: world-countries (ISO 3166, Natural Earth); continents rounded to textbook values, Europe to the Urals. Population: World Bank, 2018. Outlines: Natural Earth.
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