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Size vs

How big is it, next to that?

The Boeing 747-8 is 2.55× the size of the blue whale.

Blue whale 29.9 m next to Boeing 747-8 76.3 mBlue whale is 29.9 m and Boeing 747-8 is 76.3 m, drawn on one baseline at the same scale.
Blue whale 29.9 m next to Boeing 747-8 76.3 mBlue whale is 29.9 m and Boeing 747-8 is 76.3 m, drawn on one baseline at the same scale.

Two things are on the baseline. Change either one and the drawing and the numbers follow.

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Boeing 747-8 (76.3 m) is 2.55× the size of blue whale (29.9 m).

2 blue whales stacked on end would reach the height of Boeing 747-8.

The gap between them is 46.4 m (152 ft).

How the sizes are taken. Each figure says what it measures — height, length, diameter or elevation — and for which individual or convention. Everything is drawn standing upright on one baseline so a single scale holds, including things that are long rather than tall. Values come from the linked Wikipedia article for each item.

Pick two things and they stand on one baseline at the same scale. Numbers on a page are easy to forget; a blue whale beside a jumbo jet is not.

Pairs people look up

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Read the rest — 3 more sections

Why the same baseline matters

Two lengths in a table are easy to misread. A tower of 330 m and a whale of 29.9 m are both just numbers until they stand on one ground line at one scale — then the tower is eleven whales high and the whale is a stub beside it. The drawing does that conversion for you.

Because everything is drawn standing upright, a ship or a plane — which are long, not tall — is shown on end so it shares the scale with a skyscraper. It is an honest comparison of size, not of shape.

What counts as a size

Every item carries a figure and a basis. Animals vary individual to individual, so the figure names the individual or the average. Buildings are published under different height rules, and mountains are measured from sea level. When two pairs of figures are not the same kind of measurement, the page says so.

What is not here yet

Weight, volume, speed and age are not compared — only linear size. And the 86 things here are a curated list, not every animal or every building. If a pair you want is missing, that is a gap in the list rather than an answer.