Iraq is 1.17× the size of Japan

Iraq covers about 437,000 km² (169,000 mi²) and Japan about 374,000 km² (144,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

437,000km²Iraq
374,000km²Japan

500 km

Iraq
Japan

What fits

Japan is 85% of the size of Iraq.
Iraq is larger by 63,900 km² (24,700 mi²), which is 17% of the area of Japan.
Measured in Belgiums: Iraq is about 14.3, Japan about 12.2.

How they differ

Iraq is larger, but Japan has the larger population: 123.8 million against 38.3 million, 3.23× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 331 in Japan against 88 in Iraq: Japan is 3.79× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 8,160 km apart.
Together Iraq and Japan cover 811,000 km², close to the size of Namibia (823,000 km², 1.5% bigger).
The gap between them, 63,900 km², is about the size of Latvia (64,600 km²).
At Japan's density, Iraq would have 145.0 million people (it has 38.3 million). At Iraq's density, Japan would have 32.7 million (it has 123.8 million).
Japan's centre is 4.4° of latitude, about 490 km, farther north than Iraq's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Iraq	1.17×
More people	Japan	3.23×
More crowded	Japan	3.79×
Farther north	Japan	4.4° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Japan	1.6× against 1.4×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Iraq	Japan
Belgium 30,700 km²	14.3×	12.2×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	1.79×	1.53×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.22×	1.04×
France 548,000 km²	0.80×	0.68×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.14×	0.12×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.05×	0.04×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.05×	0.04×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.03×	0.02×

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

Side by side

	Iraq	Japan
Area, main territory	437,000 km²169,000 mi²	374,000 km²144,000 mi²
Population	38.3 millionWikidata, 2017	123.8 millionWikidata, 2024
Density	88 per km²	331 per km²
Official area	437,000 km²Wikidata	378,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Baghdad	Tokyo
Latitude range	29°N to 37°N	24°N to 46°N
Continent	Asia	Asia

Population: Wikidata 2017 and Wikidata 2024, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 437,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 437,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 378,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 374,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Iraq

Similar in size to Japan

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