Ceará is 1.03× the size of Iowa

Ceará (state of Brazil) covers about 150,000 km² (58,000 mi²) and Iowa (state of the United States) about 145,000 km² (56,200 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

150,000km²Ceará
145,000km²Iowa

100 km

Ceará
Iowa

What fits

Iowa is 97% of the size of Ceará.
Ceará is larger by 4,780 km² (1,850 mi²), which is 3.3% of the area of Iowa.
Measured in Belgiums: Ceará is about 4.90, Iowa about 4.74.

How they differ

Ceará also has the larger population: 8.8 million against 3.2 million, 2.76× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 59 in Ceará against 22 in Iowa: Ceará is 2.67× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 7,550 km apart.
On a standard web map Iowa looks larger than Ceará: Ceará at 5°S is drawn about 1.0× too large and Iowa at 42°N about 1.8×, so the map shows Iowa as 1.74× the size of Ceará, when Ceará is 1.03× the size of Iowa.
Together Ceará and Iowa cover 296,000 km², close to the size of Philippines (293,000 km², 0.8% smaller).
The gap between them, 4,780 km², is about the size of Trinidad and Tobago (5,120 km²).
At Iowa's density, Ceará would have 3.3 million people (it has 8.8 million). At Ceará's density, Iowa would have 8.5 million (it has 3.2 million).
Iowa's centre is 47.2° of latitude, about 5,250 km, farther north than Ceará's.
Ceará is the 17th largest of the 27 states and districts of Brazil and covers 1.8% of its area; it is the 11th most densely populated of them.
Iowa is the 26th largest of the 51 states and districts of the United States and covers 1.5% of its area; it is the 35th most densely populated of them.
Iowa lies about 47° of latitude (roughly 5,250 km) north of Ceará, on the other side of the equator.
Shared out evenly, each person in Ceará would have about 17,080 m² and each person in Iowa about 45,590 m².
Laid side by side, Ceará and Iowa would cover 296,000 km², about the same size as the Philippines.
Together they have 12.0 million people, about as many people as Belgium.

Side by side

	Ceará	Iowa
Is a	StateBrazil	StateUnited States
Area, measured	150,000 km²58,000 mi²	145,000 km²56,200 mi²
Official area	146,000 km²Wikidata	146,000 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	17th of 27in Brazil	26th of 51in the United States
Population	8.8 millionWikidata, 2022	3.2 millionWikidata, 2020
Rank by population	8th of 27in Brazil	31st of 51in the United States
Density	59 per km²	22 per km²
Capital	Fortaleza	Des Moines
Latitude range	8°S to 3°S	40°N to 44°N

Population: Wikidata 2022 and Wikidata 2020. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Our measured 150,000 km² is 2.7% above Wikidata's official figure of 146,000 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently.
Wikidata's official figure of 146,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 145,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Ceará

Similar in size to Iowa

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