Apulia is 1.26× the size of Iwate

Apulia (region of Italy) covers about 19,500 km² (7,510 mi²) and Iwate (prefecture of Japan) about 15,500 km² (5,970 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

19,500km²Apulia
15,500km²Iwate

50 km

Apulia
Iwate

What fits

Iwate is 80% of the size of Apulia.
Apulia is larger by 3,980 km² (1,540 mi²), which is 26% of the area of Iwate.
Measured in Belgiums: Apulia is about 0.63, Iwate about 0.50.

How they differ

Apulia also has the larger population: 4.0 million against 1.2 million, 3.34× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 207 in Apulia against 78 in Iwate: Apulia is 2.66× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 9,450 km apart.
Together Apulia and Iwate cover 34,900 km², close to the size of Taiwan (36,200 km², 3.6% bigger).
The gap between them, 3,980 km², is about the size of Cape Verde (3,930 km²).
At Iwate's density, Apulia would have 1.5 million people (it has 4.0 million). At Apulia's density, Iwate would have 3.2 million (it has 1.2 million).
Apulia's centre is 1.4° of latitude, about 160 km, farther north than Iwate's.
Apulia is the 7th largest of the 20 regions of Italy and covers 6.5% of its area; it is the 6th most densely populated of them.
Iwate is the 2nd largest of the 47 prefectures of Japan and covers 4.1% of its area; it is the 46th most densely populated of them.
Both lie at about the same latitude, 41°N and 40°N.
Shared out evenly, each person in Apulia would have about 4,830 m² and each person in Iwate about 12,830 m².
Laid side by side, Apulia and Iwate would cover 34,900 km², 1.05× the size of Moldova.
Together they have 5.2 million people, about as many people as Liberia.

Side by side

	Apulia	Iwate
Is a	RegionItaly	PrefectureJapan
Area, measured	19,500 km²7,510 mi²	15,500 km²5,970 mi²
Official area	19,500 km²Wikidata	15,300 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	7th of 20in Italy	2nd of 47in Japan
Population	4.0 millionWikidata, 2019	1.2 millionWikidata, 2021
Rank by population	8th of 20in Italy	32nd of 47in Japan
Density	207 per km²	78 per km²
Capital	Bari	Morioka
Latitude range	40°N to 42°N	39°N to 40°N

Population: Wikidata 2019 and Wikidata 2021. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 19,500 km² agrees with our measured area of 19,500 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 15,300 km² agrees with our measured area of 15,500 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Apulia

Similar in size to Iwate

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain. The outline of Apulia is the provinces Natural Earth draws there, joined along their shared borders.
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