Gaza is roughly the size of a small U.S. city rather than an entire U.S. state, with an area of about 141 square miles (365 square kilometers).

Basic size comparison

  • Gaza’s area: about 141 square miles (365 square kilometers).
  • Shape: about 25 miles long and 4–7 miles wide, a thin coastal strip along the Mediterranean.
  • By U.S. standards, that’s closer to a single metro area than even the smallest state.

Closest U.S. equivalents

Instead of a whole state, Gaza is often compared to specific cities in size.

Common comparisons include:

  • Washington, D.C.: Gaza is about twice the size of D.C. in land area.
  • Las Vegas city limits: Gaza’s land area is very similar to Las Vegas, but with over three times the population.
  • Detroit or Philadelphia: the territory’s area is in the same ballpark as these cities.

Even the smallest U.S. state, Rhode Island (about 1,214 square miles), is roughly 8–9 times larger than Gaza, so no U.S. state is truly “equivalent” in size.

Quick HTML table view

Here’s a simple HTML table comparing approximate sizes:

html

<table>
  <tr>
    <th>Place</th>
    <th>Approx. area (sq mi)</th>
    <th>How it compares to Gaza</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Gaza Strip</td>
    <td>141</td>
    <td>Baseline</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Washington, D.C.</td>
    <td>~68</td>
    <td>About half of Gaza’s area</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Las Vegas (city)</td>
    <td>~135</td>
    <td>Very similar in area to Gaza</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Rhode Island (state)</td>
    <td>~1,214</td>
    <td>Roughly 8–9 times larger than Gaza</td>
  </tr>
</table>

(All U.S. city and state figures are rounded estimates based on widely reported size statistics to give a clear sense of scale.)

TL;DR: If you imagine Gaza as a U.S. place, think “about the size of Las Vegas or a bit more than twice Washington, D.C., and far smaller than even the tiniest U.S. state.”

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.