Eritrea and North Korea are almost exactly the same size

Eritrea covers about 123,000 km² (47,300 mi²) and North Korea about 122,000 km² (47,300 mi²). Their outlines are laid over each other below at one scale.

123,000km²Eritrea
122,000km²North Korea

200 km

Eritrea
North Korea

What fits

North Korea is 100% of the size of Eritrea.
The measured areas differ by 158 km², less than half a percent: closer than the measurement itself is certain.
Measured in Belgiums: Eritrea is about 4.00, North Korea about 3.99.

How they differ

Eritrea is larger, but North Korea has the larger population: 26.4 million against 3.5 million, 7.55× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 216 in North Korea against 29 in Eritrea: North Korea is 7.56× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 8,770 km apart.
On a standard web map North Korea looks larger than Eritrea: Eritrea at 15°N is drawn about 1.1× too large and North Korea at 40°N about 1.7×, so the map shows North Korea as 1.59× the size of Eritrea, when Eritrea is 1.00× the size of North Korea.
Together Eritrea and North Korea cover 245,000 km², close to the size of Guinea (244,000 km², 0.3% smaller).
At North Korea's density, Eritrea would have 26.5 million people (it has 3.5 million). At Eritrea's density, North Korea would have 3.5 million (it has 26.4 million).
North Korea's centre is 24.8° of latitude, about 2,760 km, farther north than Eritrea's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Eritrea	1.00×
More people	North Korea	7.55×
More crowded	North Korea	7.56×
Farther north	North Korea	24.8° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	North Korea	1.7× against 1.1×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Eritrea	North Korea
Belgium 30,700 km²	4.00×	3.99×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	0.50×	0.50×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.34×	0.34×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.33×	0.33×
France 548,000 km²	0.22×	0.22×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.04×	0.04×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.01×	0.01×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.01×	0.01×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.01×	0.01×

Each figure is the place's area divided by the yardstick's.

Side by side

	Eritrea	North Korea
Area, main territory	123,000 km²47,300 mi²	122,000 km²47,300 mi²
Population	3.5 millionWikidata, 2019	26.4 millionWikidata, 2023
Density	29 per km²	216 per km²
Official area	118,000 km²Wikidata	121,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Asmara	Pyongyang
Latitude range	12°N to 18°N	38°N to 43°N
Continent	Africa	Asia

Population: Wikidata 2019 and Wikidata 2023, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Our measured 123,000 km² is 4.2% above Wikidata's official figure of 118,000 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently.
Wikidata's official figure of 121,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 122,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Eritrea

Similar in size to North Korea

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 - Countries, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth. Main territory: the largest landmass and every part within 1,000 km of it.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outlines, shown rounded. Comparisons use main-territory area.
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: 2026-11-11

Full method