Madagascar is 1.59× the size of Japan

Madagascar covers about 593,000 km² (229,000 mi²) and Japan about 374,000 km² (144,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

593,000km²Madagascar
374,000km²Japan

500 km

Madagascar
Japan

What fits

Japan is 63% of the size of Madagascar.
Madagascar is larger by 219,000 km² (84,700 mi²), which is 59% of the area of Japan.
Measured in Belgiums: Madagascar is about 19.3, Japan about 12.2.

How they differ

Madagascar is larger, but Japan has the larger population: 123.8 million against 32.0 million, 3.87× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 331 in Japan against 54 in Madagascar: Japan is 6.15× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 11,400 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Madagascar at 19°S is drawn about 1.1× too large and Japan at 37°N about 1.6×, so the map shows Madagascar as 1.12× the size of Japan instead of 1.59×.
Together Madagascar and Japan cover 966,000 km², close to the size of Tanzania (942,000 km², 2.6% smaller).
The gap between them, 219,000 km², is about the size of Guyana (211,000 km²).
At Japan's density, Madagascar would have 196.5 million people (it has 32.0 million). At Madagascar's density, Japan would have 20.1 million (it has 123.8 million).
Japan's centre is 56.7° of latitude, about 6,310 km, farther north than Madagascar's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Madagascar	1.59×
More people	Japan	3.87×
More crowded	Japan	6.15×
Farther north	Japan	56.7° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Japan	1.6× against 1.1×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Madagascar	Japan
Belgium 30,700 km²	19.3×	12.2×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	2.43×	1.53×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.66×	1.04×
France 548,000 km²	1.08×	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

	Madagascar	Japan
Area, main territory	593,000 km²229,000 mi²	374,000 km²144,000 mi²
Population	32.0 millionWikidata, 2024	123.8 millionWikidata, 2024
Density	54 per km²	331 per km²
Official area	587,000 km²Wikidata	378,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Antananarivo	Tokyo
Latitude range	26°S to 12°S	24°N to 46°N
Continent	Africa	Asia

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

Wikidata's official figure of 587,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 593,000 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 Madagascar

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