Japan is 1.14× the size of Malaysia

Japan covers about 374,000 km² (144,000 mi²) and Malaysia about 328,000 km² (127,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

374,000km²Japan
328,000km²Malaysia

5,000 km

Japan
Malaysia

What fits

Malaysia is 88% of the size of Japan.
Japan is larger by 45,600 km² (17,600 mi²), which is 14% of the area of Malaysia.
Measured in Belgiums: Japan is about 12.2, Malaysia about 10.7.

How they differ

Japan also has the larger population: 123.8 million against 34.2 million, 3.62× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 331 in Japan against 104 in Malaysia: Japan is 3.17× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 4,690 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Japan at 37°N is drawn about 1.6× too large and Malaysia at 4°N about 1.0×, so the map shows Japan as 1.80× the size of Malaysia instead of 1.14×.
Together Japan and Malaysia cover 701,000 km², close to the size of Chile (736,000 km², 5.0% bigger).
The gap between them, 45,600 km², is about the size of Estonia (45,800 km²).
At Malaysia's density, Japan would have 39.0 million people (it has 123.8 million). At Japan's density, Malaysia would have 108.7 million (it has 34.2 million).
Japan's centre is 33.6° of latitude, about 3,740 km, farther north than Malaysia's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Japan	1.14×
More people	Japan	3.62×
More crowded	Japan	3.17×
Farther north	Japan	33.6° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Japan	1.6× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Japan	Malaysia
Belgium 30,700 km²	12.2×	10.7×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	1.53×	1.34×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.04×	0.92×
France 548,000 km²	0.68×	0.60×
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	Malaysia
Area, main territory	374,000 km²144,000 mi²	328,000 km²127,000 mi²
Population	123.8 millionWikidata, 2024	34.2 millionWikidata, 2025
Density	331 per km²	104 per km²
Official area	378,000 km²Wikidata	331,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Tokyo	Putrajaya; Kuala Lumpur
Latitude range	24°N to 46°N	1°N to 7°N
Continent	Asia	Asia

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 331,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 328,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Japan

Similar in size to Malaysia

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