Which is larger?
Africa has a mapped area of 29,820,053 km², compared with 9,371,247 km² for China. That makes Africa about 3.18× larger. Because both values come from the same map geometry and spherical calculation, the ratio is internally consistent.
Africa and China in equal-area perspective
Africa's mapped footprint is a little more than three times China's mapped area in this dataset. Standard world maps often weaken that contrast because China lies farther from the equator and therefore receives more Mercator enlargement than much of Africa.
An equal-area overlay removes latitude-driven area inflation. Shape and orientation still change, but equal patches of Earth receive equal patches of the drawing.
Why this page compares area only
Country population values and a multi-country regional aggregate should not be combined without a shared reference year and aggregation policy. This comparison therefore stays focused on the consistently mapped geographic footprint.
This comparison is a geographic visualization, not a statement about territorial claims. Read the methodology and data sources before reusing the figures.