Cities That Would Technically Fit Inside the Denver Airport
Paris is one of them.
Every once in a while—and with rather cyclical cadence, may I add—someone in the US wakes up and realizes that some of our airports are shockingly massive. The top two airport picks are always the same, Denver International Airport, measuring roughly 54 square miles, and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, which measures around 42 square miles.
Those are a lot of square miles, especially in Denver's case. So naturally, with data this stunning at hand, the internet does what the internet does. Namely, compare and contrast.
On X, a post recently went viral for noting that, technically, the Denver International Airport is larger than Paris, France. That is, in fact, true, as a quick Google search will show that the city of Paris occupies 40.7 square miles of space.
"People don't realize that the [Denver] AIRPORT is basically the size of Paris," reads the post's caption. (While the caption reads "Dallas" on the post, the airport outline overlapping the Paris map is that of Denver).
Now, before we start arguing, there is an important consideration to make clear: This claim is only true if we exclude Paris' huge suburbs, and only take into account its central area. In old European cities—including Paris—the historical center is usually smaller, which is why an airport like Denver's can be technically considered bigger than the city itself.
Still, Denver's airport is huge, and 54 square miles of land are a lot of land. So keeping this former point in mind, here's a list of other international cities that could technically fit inside the Denver International Airport.
1. Cardiff, Wales, UK — 54.05 sq mi
2. Valencia, Spain — 51.99 sq mi
3. Paris, France — 40.7 sq mi
4. Barcelona, Spain – 39.34 sq mi
5. Florence, Italy —39.54 sq mi
6. London, UK (Greater London) – 607 sq mi (Note: Greater London as a metropolitan area, but the "City of London" itself is just about 1.12 sq mi)
7. San Marino, Italy — 23.63 square miles
8. Vatican City, Italy — 109 acres
And just for fun, here's a list of US cities that could technically fit inside the Denver International Airport.
1. Pittsburgh, PA — 58.3 sq mi (close enough)
2. Portland, ME — 52.6 sq mi
3. San Francisco, CA — 46.87 sq mi
4. Boulder, CO – 25.68 sq mi
5. Manhattan, NYC, NY — 22.82 sq mi
6. Charlottesville, VA — 10.3 sq mi