Alabama is 1.70× the size of Hokkaido (Japan)

Alabama (state of the United States) covers about 134,000 km² (51,700 mi²) and Hokkaido (Japan) (prefecture of Japan) about 78,800 km² (30,400 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

134,000km²Alabama
78,800km²Hokkaido (Japan)

100 km

Alabama
Hokkaido (Japan)

Hokkaido (Japan): Part of this region's boundary is disputed with Russia. Size Versus draws Natural Earth's de facto outline, the boundary as it is held on the ground, and takes no position on it.

What fits

Hokkaido (Japan) is 59% of the size of Alabama.
Alabama is larger by 55,100 km² (21,300 mi²), which is 70% of the area of Hokkaido (Japan).
Measured in Belgiums: Alabama is about 4.36, Hokkaido (Japan) about 2.57.

How they differ

Alabama is larger, but Hokkaido (Japan) has the larger population: 5.4 million against 5.0 million, 1.08× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 69 in Hokkaido (Japan) against 38 in Alabama: Hokkaido (Japan) is 1.84× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 10,200 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Alabama at 33°N is drawn about 1.4× too large and Hokkaido (Japan) at 43°N about 1.9×, so the map shows Alabama as 1.27× the size of Hokkaido (Japan) instead of 1.70×.
Together Alabama and Hokkaido (Japan) cover 213,000 km², close to the size of Guyana (211,000 km², 0.7% smaller).
The gap between them, 55,100 km², is about the size of Croatia (55,000 km²).
At Hokkaido (Japan)'s density, Alabama would have 9.2 million people (it has 5.0 million). At Alabama's density, Hokkaido (Japan) would have 3.0 million (it has 5.4 million).
Hokkaido (Japan)'s centre is 10.6° of latitude, about 1,180 km, farther north than Alabama's.
Alabama is the 29th largest of the 51 states and districts of the United States and covers 1.4% of its area; it is the 27th most densely populated of them.
Hokkaido (Japan) is the largest of the 47 prefectures of Japan and covers 21% of its area; it is the 47th most densely populated of them.
Hokkaido (Japan) lies about 11° of latitude (roughly 1,180 km) north of Alabama.
Shared out evenly, each person in Alabama would have about 26,640 m² and each person in Hokkaido (Japan) about 14,500 m².
Laid side by side, Alabama and Hokkaido (Japan) would cover 213,000 km², about the same size as Guyana.
Together they have 10.5 million people, about as many people as Greece.

Side by side

	Alabama	Hokkaido (Japan)
Is a	StateUnited States	PrefectureJapan
Area, measured	134,000 km²51,700 mi²	78,800 km²30,400 mi²
Official area	136,000 km²Wikidata	83,400 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	29th of 51in the United States	1st of 47in Japan
Population	5.0 millionWikidata, 2020	5.4 millionWikidata, 2014
Rank by population	24th of 51in the United States	8th of 47in Japan
Density	38 per km²	69 per km²
Capital	Montgomery	Sapporo
Latitude range	30°N to 35°N	41°N to 46°N

Population: Wikidata 2020 and Wikidata 2014. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 136,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 134,000 km², to within 2%.
Our measured 78,800 km² is 5.6% below Wikidata's official figure of 83,400 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently. This difference is flagged for review.

Similar in size to Alabama

Similar in size to Hokkaido (Japan)

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth. A region is drawn whole, every island included; a country is its main territory.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outlines, shown rounded.
Drawing: Each outline is projected with an equal-area projection centred on its own centroid, so areas stay true and the two can be laid over each other.
Data built: 2026-11-12

Full method