Western & Central Europe is about 12% larger than India. Areas below are total areas from national statistics; the Mercator factor shows how much a standard web map inflates each one.
Western & Central Europe is larger by 151,637 sq mi (392,737 km²).
Share of the two areas combined (true area, not map area)
| Metric | 🇮🇳 India | 🇪🇺 Western & Central Europe | Ratio / Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Area (Sq Miles) | 1,269,219 sq mi | 1,420,856 sq mi | 0.89x |
| Total Area (Sq Kilometers) | 3,287,263 km² | 3,680,000 km² | 0.89x |
| Population | 1,428,627,663 | 450,000,000 | 3.2x more |
| Population Density | 1,126 people / sq mi | 317 people / sq mi | India 3.6x denser |
| Capital or Seat | New Delhi | Brussels (EU seat) | - |
| Largest Metropolitan Area | Mumbai | Paris / Berlin | - |
| Latitude Center | 20.6° | 48.0° | 27.4° lat diff |
| Mercator Area Inflation Factor | 1.14x | 2.24x | 0.51x visual distortion |
On standard Mercator maps, Western Europe appears over double the size of India. In fact, India alone spans almost the entire territory of Western and Central Europe combined.
Mercator projection formulas stretch surface area proportionally to sec²(φ) = 1 / cos²(φ), magnifying landmasses drastically near the north and south poles.
India spans 1,269,219 square miles, almost matching the entire landmass of Western and Central Europe (1.42 million sq mi). India's population is more than three times that of the entire European continent.
India has 22 officially recognized constitutional languages.
Western and Central Europe contain roughly 25 sovereign nations.
Mercator factors use the center latitude only (area scale = 1 / cos² of latitude), so they are approximations for places that span many degrees of latitude.
Use published areas from national statistics offices or census gazetteers rather than judging by pixels on a flat web map.
Remember that Web Mercator tiles distort areas by 1/cos²(latitude). High-latitude regions appear vastly larger than equatorial states.
Drag one outline over the other in the true size tool; the shape is re-projected as it moves, so it keeps its real size.
India is nearly the size of Western and Central Europe combined, but holds over 1.4 billion people.
India has about 1,428,627,663 people versus 450,000,000 in Western & Central Europe, roughly 3.2 times as many. Per square mile, that is about 1,126 people in India and 317 in Western & Central Europe.
