Japan is 1.24× the size of Italy

Japan covers about 374,000 km² (144,000 mi²) and Italy about 301,000 km² (116,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

374,000km²Japan
301,000km²Italy

500 km

Japan
Italy

What fits

Italy is 81% of the size of Japan.
Japan is larger by 72,300 km² (27,900 mi²), which is 24% of the area of Italy.
Measured in Belgiums: Japan is about 12.2, Italy about 9.82.

How they differ

Japan also has the larger population: 123.8 million against 58.9 million, 2.10× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 331 in Japan against 195 in Italy: Japan is 1.70× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 9,540 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Japan at 37°N is drawn about 1.6× too large and Italy at 43°N about 1.9×, so the map shows Japan as 1.06× the size of Italy instead of 1.24×.
Together Japan and Italy cover 675,000 km², close to the size of Myanmar (663,000 km², 1.7% smaller).
The gap between them, 72,300 km², is about the size of Sierra Leone (71,600 km²).
At Italy's density, Japan would have 73.0 million people (it has 123.8 million). At Japan's density, Italy would have 99.8 million (it has 58.9 million).
Italy's centre is 5.3° of latitude, about 590 km, farther north than Japan's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Japan	1.24×
More people	Japan	2.10×
More crowded	Japan	1.70×
Farther north	Italy	5.3° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Italy	1.9× against 1.6×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Japan	Italy
Belgium 30,700 km²	12.2×	9.82×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	1.53×	1.24×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.04×	0.84×
France 548,000 km²	0.68×	0.55×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.12×	0.10×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.04×	0.04×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.04×	0.03×
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	Italy
Area, main territory	374,000 km²144,000 mi²	301,000 km²116,000 mi²
Population	123.8 millionWikidata, 2024	58.9 millionWikidata, 2023
Density	331 per km²	195 per km²
Official area	378,000 km²Wikidata	302,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Tokyo	Rome
Latitude range	24°N to 46°N	35°N to 47°N
Continent	Asia	Europe

Population: Wikidata 2024 and Wikidata 2023, 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 302,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 301,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Japan

Similar in size to Italy

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