Italy is 2.46× the size of North Korea

Italy covers about 301,000 km² (116,000 mi²) and North Korea about 122,000 km² (47,300 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

301,000km²Italy
122,000km²North Korea

200 km

Italy
North Korea

What fits

North Korea fits inside Italy about 2.46 times by area.
Italy is larger by 179,000 km² (69,000 mi²), which is 146% of the area of North Korea.
Measured in Belgiums: Italy is about 9.82, North Korea about 3.99.

How they differ

Italy also has the larger population: 58.9 million against 26.4 million, 2.23× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 216 in North Korea against 195 in Italy: North Korea is 1.10× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 8,720 km apart.
Together Italy and North Korea cover 424,000 km², close to the size of Iraq (437,000 km², 3.3% bigger).
The gap between them, 179,000 km², is about the size of Uruguay (177,000 km²).
At North Korea's density, Italy would have 65.0 million people (it has 58.9 million). At Italy's density, North Korea would have 23.9 million (it has 26.4 million).
Italy's centre is 2.6° of latitude, about 290 km, farther north than North Korea's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Italy	2.46×
More people	Italy	2.23×
More crowded	North Korea	1.10×
Farther north	Italy	2.6° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Italy	1.9× against 1.7×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Italy	North Korea
Belgium 30,700 km²	9.82×	3.99×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	1.24×	0.50×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.84×	0.34×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.81×	0.33×
France 548,000 km²	0.55×	0.22×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.10×	0.04×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.04×	0.01×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.03×	0.01×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.02×	0.01×

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

Side by side

	Italy	North Korea
Area, main territory	301,000 km²116,000 mi²	122,000 km²47,300 mi²
Population	58.9 millionWikidata, 2023	26.4 millionWikidata, 2023
Density	195 per km²	216 per km²
Official area	302,000 km²Wikidata	121,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Rome	Pyongyang
Latitude range	35°N to 47°N	38°N to 43°N
Continent	Europe	Asia

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

Wikidata's official figure of 302,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 301,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 121,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 122,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Italy

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