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How Big Is a Lion?

A lion is about 9 ft 6 in (290 cm) long. That is 3 ft 11 in (119 cm) more than the height of the average man (5 ft 7 in). The big cat known as the king of the jungle, though it lives on grasslands.

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How big is a lion compared to the average man?

A lion's length is 3 ft 11 in (119 cm) more than the height of the average man (5 ft 7 in). By volume, about 3 average men would fit inside a lion.

Lion length in feet, inches, centimeters and meters

A lion measures:

Unit	Value
Feet and inches	9 ft 6 in
Inches	114 in
Centimeters	290 cm
Meters	2.9 m

Lion size facts

Male lions are about 1.8 to 2.1 meters long plus a 0.9-meter tail.
They stand about 1.2 meters tall at the shoulder.
A lion's roar can be heard 8 km away.

How does a lion compare to other things?

A lion next to 25 things of similar size, plus some everyday references:

Thing	Size	Compared to Lion
Sun	865,000 miles (1,393,000 km) across	480 million× bigger
Earth	7,920 miles (12,740 km) across	4.39 million× bigger
Mount Everest	5.5 miles (8.849 km)	3,050× bigger
Eiffel Tower	1,083 ft (330 m)	114× bigger
School bus	40 ft (12.2 m) long	4.2× bigger
Hippopotamus	11 ft (3.5 m) long	1 ft 11.5 in (60 cm) bigger
African elephant	10 ft (3.2 m)	12 in (30 cm) bigger
Woolly mammoth	10 ft (3.2 m)	12 in (30 cm) bigger
Basketball hoop	10 ft (3.05 m)	5.8 in (14.8 cm) bigger
Tiger	9 ft 10 in (3 m) long	3.9 in (10 cm) bigger
Bottlenose dolphin	9 ft 10 in (3 m) long	3.9 in (10 cm) bigger
Sunflower	9 ft 10 in (3 m)	3.9 in (10 cm) bigger
Goliath	9 ft 6 in (290 cm)	0 pm smaller
Moose	9 ft 6 in (290 cm) long	0 pm smaller
Robert Wadlow	8 ft 11 in (272 cm)	7.1 in (18 cm) smaller
Komodo dragon	8 ft 6 in (260 cm) long	12 in (30 cm) smaller
Sultan Kösen	8 ft 3 in (251 cm)	1 ft 3.5 in (39 cm) smaller
Polar bear	8 ft 2 in (250 cm) long	1 ft 3.5 in (40 cm) smaller
Bigfoot	7 ft 10 in (240 cm)	1 ft 7.5 in (50 cm) smaller
Horse	7 ft 10 in (240 cm) long	1 ft 7.5 in (50 cm) smaller
Bull shark	7 ft 10 in (240 cm) long	1 ft 7.5 in (50 cm) smaller
Ostrich	7 ft 10 in (240 cm)	1 ft 7.5 in (50 cm) smaller
Manute Bol	7 ft 7 in (231 cm)	1 ft 11 in (59 cm) smaller
Average man (world)	5 ft 7 in (171 cm)	3 ft 11 in (119 cm) smaller
Average woman (world)	5 ft 3 in (159 cm)	4 ft 4 in (131 cm) smaller

Where do these numbers come from?

Sizes are typical adult or reported values, rounded for readability. Read how we measure and compare sizes.

Silhouettes from PhyloPic: Lion by Gabriele Russo. See credits.