Municipality of China
Beijing
北京市Beijing is a municipality of China. It covers about 16,300 km² (6,270 mi²), the 29th largest of the 31 provinces and regions in Natural Earth’s file for China, and 95% of the size of Eswatini. About 21.9 million people live there (Wikidata, 2020).
50 km
- Eswatini
- Beijing
Facts
| Area, measured | 16,300 km²6,270 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 16,400 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure |
| Share of China | 0.2%of the area of the 31 provinces and regions |
| Rank by area | 29th of 31provinces and regions of China |
| Population | 21.9 millionWikidata, 2020 · the census year of every unit |
| Density | 1,347 people per km² |
| Latitude range | 39°N to 41°N |
| Type | MunicipalityCN-BJ |
What the numbers say about Beijing
- Beijing covers 0.2% of the area of China and ranks 26th of 31 by population, against 29th by area.
- It would take 577 regions the size of Beijing to cover China.
- Beijing holds 1.6% of the 1.41 billion people that Wikidata’s 2020 figures give for the 31 provinces and regions together: about 1 in 64.
- The largest, Xinjiang, is 100× the size of Beijing; the smallest, Shanghai, is 42% of it.
- Closest in size within China: Tianjin (11,500 km², 1.42×) and Hainan (33,800 km², 2.08×).
- Counted as a country, Beijing would be larger than 81 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 159th by area, between Eswatini (17,100 km²) and East Timor (15,100 km²).
- With 21.9 million people it would rank 60th of 238 by population.
- Beijing has 1,347 people per km², about the density of Bangladesh, which has 1,252 per km².
- That makes Beijing the 2nd most densely populated of the 31 provinces and regions, 8.96× the average for China (150 per km²).
- On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 40°N is drawn about 1.7× too large in area, so Beijing looks bigger there than it is.
- Laid out flat, Beijing stretches about 178 km north to south and 175 km east to west.
- Wikidata's official figure of 16,400 km² agrees with our measured area of 16,300 km², to within 2%.
About the same size as
Beside the regions of other countries
The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.
- United StatesAreaHawaii0.96× · 16,800 km²PeopleFlorida1.02× · 21.5 million (2020)
- IndiaAreaNagaland1.00× · 16,300 km²PeopleHaryana86% · 25.4 million (2011)
- GermanyAreaThuringia1.01× · 16,100 km²PeopleNorth Rhine-Westphalia1.22× · 17.9 million (2022)
- FranceAreaÎle-de-France1.34× · 12,100 km²PeopleÎle-de-France1.77× · 12.4 million (2022)
- ItalyAreaLazio0.95× · 17,000 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- SpainAreaValencian Community70% · 23,300 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- JapanAreaIwate1.05× · 15,500 km²PeopleTokyo1.53× · 14.3 million (2022)
- BrazilAreaSergipe75% · 21,600 km²PeopleMinas Gerais1.07× · 20.5 million (2022)
- CanadaAreanone within 2×PeopleOntario1.54× · 14.2 million (2021)
- MexicoAreaHidalgo76% · 21,300 km²PeopleState of Mexico1.35× · 16.2 million (2015)
- ThailandAreaTak0.99× · 16,400 km²Peoplenone within 2×
Where Beijing sits in China
All 31 drawn on one equal-area map, so sizes are comparable. Select another to open it.
Compare Beijing
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Sources and method
- Outline
- Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
- Boundary
- De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
- Area
- Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
- Official figures
- Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
- Population
- Wikidata, 2020. China’s units share the 2020 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
- Matching
- Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
- Data built
- 2026-11-12