How Big Is Venus?
QUICK ANSWER
Venus has a diameter of about 7,521 miles (12,104 km), making it roughly 95 percent the size of Earth. It's the closest planet to Earth in size, mass, and density, which is why it's often called Earth's twin. Venus is the sixth-largest planet in our solar system overall.
Venus is almost the same size as Earth. Not just close, but unusually close, as if the solar system made a near-perfect copy of one of the inner planets. The structural similarity is one of the most striking facts about Venus, and it's part of why scientists pay so much attention to how the two planets diverged.
What is Venus's actual size?
Venus has a diameter of about 7,521 miles (12,104 kilometers), according to NASA. For comparison, Earth's diameter is about 7,918 miles (12,742 km). Venus is roughly 95 percent the size of Earth by diameter, with a surface area of about 178 million square miles. By volume, Venus is about 86 percent of Earth, and by mass it's about 81 percent. These are the kind of numbers that make Venus structurally indistinguishable from Earth at a distance.
How does Venus compare to other planets?
Venus is the sixth-largest planet in our solar system, behind Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Earth. It's significantly larger than Mercury (which is about 38 percent Earth's size) and Mars (about 53 percent Earth's size). Venus is the second of the four inner rocky planets, sitting between Mercury and Earth in both size and orbital position. Among the rocky planets, only Earth is larger.
Is Venus's gravity similar to Earth's?
Yes, very. Venus's surface gravity is about 8.87 m/s², compared to Earth's 9.81 m/s², making Venus's gravity about 91 percent of Earth's. A person who weighs 150 pounds on Earth would weigh about 136 pounds on Venus. The similarity is a direct consequence of the planets having similar mass and size. Gravity-wise, walking on Venus would feel almost exactly like walking on Earth, ignoring the small detail that the air would be hot enough to melt you.
Why is Venus so similar in size to Earth?
Likely because the two planets formed in the same region of the early solar system, from similar materials, under similar conditions. Both are inner rocky planets that accumulated from the same general pool of dust and small bodies. Their similar size and structure suggest that the major differences between Venus and Earth, like atmosphere and surface conditions, developed later, after the planets had already formed. What changed Venus is one of the biggest open questions in planetary science.
Venus is almost exactly Earth-sized, with 95 percent of Earth's diameter and 91 percent of its gravity. The structural similarity is what makes Venus so fascinating: a planet that started out so much like ours but ended up so different. Size suggests they should be twins; everything else makes clear they're not.
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