Hokkaido (Japan) is 1.43× the size of Nova Scotia

Hokkaido (Japan) (prefecture of Japan) covers about 78,800 km² (30,400 mi²) and Nova Scotia (province of Canada) about 55,100 km² (21,300 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

78,800km²Hokkaido (Japan)
55,100km²Nova Scotia

100 km

Hokkaido (Japan)
Nova Scotia

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

Nova Scotia is 70% of the size of Hokkaido (Japan).
Hokkaido (Japan) is larger by 23,700 km² (9,140 mi²), which is 43% of the area of Nova Scotia.
Measured in Belgiums: Hokkaido (Japan) is about 2.57, Nova Scotia about 1.80.

How they differ

Hokkaido (Japan) also has the larger population: 5.4 million against 969,000, 5.60× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 69 in Hokkaido (Japan) against 18 in Nova Scotia: Hokkaido (Japan) is 3.92× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 9,840 km apart.
Together Hokkaido (Japan) and Nova Scotia cover 134,000 km², close to the size of Greece (131,000 km², 1.9% smaller).
The gap between them, 23,700 km², is about the size of Belize (22,300 km²).
At Nova Scotia's density, Hokkaido (Japan) would have 1.4 million people (it has 5.4 million). At Hokkaido (Japan)'s density, Nova Scotia would have 3.8 million (it has 969,000).
Nova Scotia's centre is 1.8° of latitude, about 200 km, farther north than Hokkaido (Japan)'s.
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.
Nova Scotia is the 12th largest of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada and covers 0.6% of its area; it is the 2nd most densely populated of them.
Both lie at about the same latitude, 43°N and 45°N.
Shared out evenly, each person in Hokkaido (Japan) would have about 14,500 m² and each person in Nova Scotia about 56,850 m².
Laid side by side, Hokkaido (Japan) and Nova Scotia would cover 134,000 km², about the same size as Greece.
Together they have 6.4 million people, about as many people as Bulgaria.

Side by side

	Hokkaido (Japan)	Nova Scotia
Is a	PrefectureJapan	ProvinceCanada
Area, measured	78,800 km²30,400 mi²	55,100 km²21,300 mi²
Official area	83,400 km²Wikidata	55,300 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	1st of 47in Japan	12th of 13in Canada
Population	5.4 millionWikidata, 2014	969,000Wikidata, 2021
Rank by population	8th of 47in Japan	7th of 13in Canada
Density	69 per km²	18 per km²
Capital	Sapporo	Halifax
Latitude range	41°N to 46°N	43°N to 47°N

Population: Wikidata 2014 and Wikidata 2021. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

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.
Wikidata's official figure of 55,300 km² agrees with our measured area of 55,100 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Hokkaido (Japan)

Similar in size to Nova Scotia

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