Japan is 1.04× the size of Germany

Japan covers about 374,000 km² (144,000 mi²) and Germany about 358,000 km² (138,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

374,000km²Japan
358,000km²Germany

500 km

Japan
Germany

What fits

Germany is 96% of the size of Japan.
Japan is larger by 15,800 km² (6,110 mi²), which is 4.4% of the area of Germany.
Measured in Belgiums: Japan is about 12.2, Germany about 11.7.

How they differ

Japan also has the larger population: 123.8 million against 83.5 million, 1.48× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 331 in Japan against 233 in Germany: Japan is 1.42× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 8,920 km apart.
On a standard web map Germany looks larger than Japan: Japan at 37°N is drawn about 1.6× too large and Germany at 51°N about 2.5×, so the map shows Germany as 1.53× the size of Japan, when Japan is 1.04× the size of Germany.
Together Japan and Germany cover 731,000 km², close to the size of Chile (736,000 km², 0.7% bigger).
The gap between them, 15,800 km², is about the size of East Timor (15,100 km²).
At Germany's density, Japan would have 87.2 million people (it has 123.8 million). At Japan's density, Germany would have 118.6 million (it has 83.5 million).
Germany's centre is 13.6° of latitude, about 1,520 km, farther north than Japan's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Japan	1.04×
More people	Japan	1.48×
More crowded	Japan	1.42×
Farther north	Germany	13.6° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Germany	2.5× against 1.6×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Japan	Germany
Belgium 30,700 km²	12.2×	11.7×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	1.53×	1.47×
France 548,000 km²	0.68×	0.65×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.12×	0.11×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.04×	0.04×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.04×	0.04×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.02×	0.02×

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

Side by side

	Japan	Germany
Area, main territory	374,000 km²144,000 mi²	358,000 km²138,000 mi²
Population	123.8 millionWikidata, 2024	83.5 millionWikidata, 2025
Density	331 per km²	233 per km²
Official area	378,000 km²Wikidata	358,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Tokyo	Berlin
Latitude range	24°N to 46°N	47°N to 55°N
Continent	Asia	Europe

Population: Wikidata 2024 and Wikidata 2025, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 378,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 374,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 358,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 358,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Japan

Similar in size to Germany

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