Iceland at its true size

Where Iceland ranks

Among the independent states, in 44 rankings. Each links to its table.

Countries of a similar size

Every country within 25% of Iceland’s area, lit up on the map →

• South Korea1.03×Iceland and South Korea are almost exactly the same size.
• Guatemala0.95×Iceland is 5% smaller than Guatemala.
• Cuba0.94×Iceland is 6% smaller than Cuba.
• Bulgaria0.93×Iceland is 7% smaller than Bulgaria.
• Liberia0.92×Iceland is 8% smaller than Liberia.
• Honduras0.92×Iceland is 8% smaller than Honduras.

How many times does Iceland fit into…

• Russia: about 166 times
• Canada: about 97 times
• United States: about 95 times

The land itself

Rivers, summits and lakes Iceland shares with the rest of the world. Turn on “Rivers & lakes” and “Physical names” in the atlas to see them on the map.

Rivers are listed by the published length of their whole course, not the part inside Iceland. Figures from Wikidata, features from Natural Earth.

Questions about Iceland

How big is Iceland?

Iceland covers 103,004 km², which makes it number 106 of 194 countries by area. About 392,404 people live there (2025), 3.8 per km².

Is Iceland bigger than South Korea?

Iceland and South Korea are almost exactly the same size. Iceland: 103,004 km²; South Korea: 100,295 km².

How much does the Mercator map distort Iceland?

At about 65° latitude, Mercator stretches Iceland to roughly 5.6× its true area relative to a country on the equator. Kartavera draws it in the Equal Earth projection, where areas are exact.

Does Iceland have land borders?

No. Iceland has no land neighbours; every border is a coastline.