Kenya is 1.57× the size of Japan

Kenya covers about 586,000 km² (226,000 mi²) and Japan about 374,000 km² (144,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

586,000km²Kenya
374,000km²Japan

500 km

Kenya
Japan

What fits

Japan is 64% of the size of Kenya.
Kenya is larger by 212,000 km² (81,900 mi²), which is 57% of the area of Japan.
Measured in Belgiums: Kenya is about 19.1, Japan about 12.2.

How they differ

Kenya is larger, but Japan has the larger population: 123.8 million against 48.5 million, 2.55× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 331 in Japan against 83 in Kenya: Japan is 4.01× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 10,800 km apart.
On a standard web map Japan looks larger than Kenya: Kenya at 1°N is drawn about 1.0× too large and Japan at 37°N about 1.6×, so the map shows Japan as 1.01× the size of Kenya, when Kenya is 1.57× the size of Japan.
Together Kenya and Japan cover 959,000 km², close to the size of Tanzania (942,000 km², 1.8% smaller).
The gap between them, 212,000 km², is about the size of Guyana (211,000 km²).
At Japan's density, Kenya would have 194.1 million people (it has 48.5 million). At Kenya's density, Japan would have 30.9 million (it has 123.8 million).
Japan's centre is 36.9° of latitude, about 4,100 km, farther north than Kenya's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Kenya	1.57×
More people	Japan	2.55×
More crowded	Japan	4.01×
Farther north	Japan	36.9° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Japan	1.6× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Kenya	Japan
Belgium 30,700 km²	19.1×	12.2×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	2.40×	1.53×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.64×	1.04×
France 548,000 km²	1.07×	0.68×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.19×	0.12×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.07×	0.04×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.06×	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

	Kenya	Japan
Area, main territory	586,000 km²226,000 mi²	374,000 km²144,000 mi²
Population	48.5 millionWikidata, 2017	123.8 millionWikidata, 2024
Density	83 per km²	331 per km²
Official area	581,000 km²Wikidata	378,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Nairobi	Tokyo
Latitude range	5°S to 5°N	24°N to 46°N
Continent	Africa	Asia

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

Wikidata's official figure of 581,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 586,000 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 Kenya

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