Netherlands vs Spain

Spain is 12 times larger than Netherlands — 505,370 against 41,543 km². Spain is 2.7 times more populous than Netherlands — 49,355,143 against 18,087,633 people.

Side by side

Population density

Netherlands is 4.5 times more densely populated than Spain — 435 against 98 people per km². Density is where area and population interact, and it often reverses the impression the headline figures give — a large country with a small population can feel emptier than a small crowded one by an enormous margin.

Practical differences

• Spain spans 2 time zones, so "local time" there is not a single answer.

Netherlands

About a quarter of the Netherlands lies below sea level and roughly a fifth of its present land area has been reclaimed from sea, lake and marsh. Flevoland, a province of some 1,400 km², was drained from the Zuiderzee in the 20th century and is the largest artificial island in the world. The lowest point, in Zuidplaspolder, is about 6.8 m below sea level.

Spain

After Switzerland, Spain is the most mountainous country in Europe, with an average elevation around 650 m. The Canary Islands sit off Africa, which is why part of Spain is on a different time zone and why Teide, at 3,715 m, is the country's highest point. Spain has more olive trees than any other country, around 340 million.

Neutral facts only. Nothing here addresses politics, government, economics or which country is preferable in any respect — population is the one figure that dates, and it carries its year.