Iceland is 1.04× the size of South Korea

Iceland covers about 102,000 km² (39,500 mi²) and South Korea about 98,500 km² (38,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

102,000km²Iceland
98,500km²South Korea

100 km

Iceland
South Korea

What fits

South Korea is 96% of the size of Iceland.
Iceland is larger by 3,850 km² (1,480 mi²), which is 3.9% of the area of South Korea.
Measured in Belgiums: Iceland is about 3.34, South Korea about 3.21.

How they differ

Iceland is larger, but South Korea has the larger population: 51.5 million against 364,000, 141× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 522 in South Korea against 3.6 in Iceland: South Korea is 147× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 8,370 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Iceland at 65°N is drawn about 5.6× too large and South Korea at 36°N about 1.5×, so the map shows Iceland as 3.77× the size of South Korea instead of 1.04×.
Together Iceland and South Korea cover 201,000 km², close to the size of Kyrgyzstan (199,000 km², 1.0% smaller).
The gap between them, 3,850 km², is about the size of Cape Verde (3,930 km²).
At South Korea's density, Iceland would have 53.5 million people (it has 364,000). At Iceland's density, South Korea would have 351,000 (it has 51.5 million).
Iceland's centre is 28.6° of latitude, about 3,180 km, farther north than South Korea's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Iceland	1.04×
More people	South Korea	141×
More crowded	South Korea	147×
Farther north	Iceland	28.6° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Iceland	5.6× against 1.5×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Iceland	South Korea
Belgium 30,700 km²	3.34×	3.21×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	0.42×	0.40×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.29×	0.28×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.27×	0.26×
France 548,000 km²	0.19×	0.18×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.03×	0.03×
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

	Iceland	South Korea
Area, main territory	102,000 km²39,500 mi²	98,500 km²38,000 mi²
Population	364,000Wikidata, 2019	51.5 millionWikidata, 2017
Density	3.6 per km²	522 per km²
Official area	103,000 km²Wikidata	100,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Reykjavík	Seoul
Latitude range	63°N to 67°N	33°N to 39°N
Continent	Europe	Asia

Population: Wikidata 2019 and Wikidata 2017, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 103,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 102,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 100,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 98,500 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Iceland

Similar in size to South 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