Puerto Rico vs Spain

Spain is 56 times larger than Puerto Rico — 505,370 against 9,104 km². Spain is 15 times more populous than Puerto Rico — 49,355,143 against 3,184,835 people.

Side by side

Population density

Puerto Rico is 3.6 times more densely populated than Spain — 350 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

• Different currencies: the United States dollar and the Euro.
• Spain spans 2 time zones, so "local time" there is not a single answer.
• Different continents — North America and Europe.

Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico Trench off the north coast reaches about 8,400 m, the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean. El Yunque is the only tropical rainforest in the United States National Forest system. Mosquito Bay on Vieques is the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world, lit by dinoflagellates in the water.

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.