How big is Hippopotamus?
Hippopotamus: 1.5 m (4.92 ft). Measured as shoulder height — a typical adult.
Source: Wikipedia — Hippopotamus
Where it sits
Among the 23 animals on this page hippopotamus ranks 19th from the top by size. The largest in the group is blue whale at 29.9 m, which is 19.9× the size of hippopotamus, while the smallest, honey bee, is 13 mm.
Next to an adult of 1.7 m it is small: the person is 1.13× bigger, so 1 of them laid end to end would reach one person's height.
In everyday distances
It fits inside a football pitch 70 times over — a pitch is about 105 m and hippopotamus is only 1.5 m.
Walking at an easy 1.4 m/s you cover 1.5 m in 1.1 seconds. A jet at 900 km/h covers it in 6 milliseconds.
Next to its neighbours in size
The nearest thing larger than it in this collection is human adult at 1.7 m (5.58 ft), 1.13× the size. Note the two figures are not the same measurement: for hippopotamus it is shoulder height, for human adult it is height.
The nearest thing smaller is emperor penguin at 1.15 m (3.77 ft), so hippopotamus is 1.3× as big as it. They sit in the same group.
Against fixed yardsticks
Against three fixed yardsticks — Eiffel Tower (330 m) is 220× the size of hippopotamus; blue whale (29.9 m) is 19.9× the size of hippopotamus; Earth (12,742 km) is 8,494,667× the size of hippopotamus.
How this figure was taken
Animal sizes vary from one individual to the next, so each figure says which individual or average it describes. Heights are taken at the shoulder or standing; lengths run nose to tail tip unless stated.
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.
Read the rest — common questions
How big is the hippopotamus?
1.5 m (4.92 ft), measured as shoulder height: a typical adult.
Where does the hippopotamus rank among animals?
Number 19 of 23 on this site, from blue whale at 29.9 m down to honey bee at 13 mm.
What is the next size up?
Human adult, at 1.7 m, is 1.13× the size.
What is the next size down?
Emperor penguin, at 1.15 m, is 1.3× smaller.
How reliable is the figure?
It is taken from the cited Wikipedia article and states its basis (a typical adult). Values are rounded, and where individuals differ the figure is a representative one, so expect small differences from other sources.