Maryland is 1.21× the size of Hesse

Maryland (state of the United States) covers about 25,500 km² (9,830 mi²) and Hesse (state of Germany) about 21,000 km² (8,110 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

25,500km²Maryland
21,000km²Hesse

100 km

Maryland
Hesse

What fits

Hesse is 83% of the size of Maryland.
Maryland is larger by 4,450 km² (1,720 mi²), which is 21% of the area of Hesse.
Measured in Belgiums: Maryland is about 0.83, Hesse about 0.69.

How they differ

Maryland is larger, but Hesse has the larger population: 6.2 million against 6.2 million, 1.00× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 295 in Hesse against 243 in Maryland: Hesse is 1.22× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 6,500 km apart.
On a standard web map Hesse looks larger than Maryland: Maryland at 39°N is drawn about 1.7× too large and Hesse at 51°N about 2.5×, so the map shows Hesse as 1.24× the size of Maryland, when Maryland is 1.21× the size of Hesse.
Together Maryland and Hesse cover 46,500 km², close to the size of Estonia (45,800 km², 1.4% smaller).
The gap between them, 4,450 km², is about the size of Cape Verde (3,930 km²).
At Hesse's density, Maryland would have 7.5 million people (it has 6.2 million). At Maryland's density, Hesse would have 5.1 million (it has 6.2 million).
Hesse's centre is 11.5° of latitude, about 1,280 km, farther north than Maryland's.
Maryland is the 42nd largest of the 51 states and districts of the United States and covers 0.3% of its area; it is the 6th most densely populated of them.
Hesse is the 7th largest of the 16 states of Germany and covers 5.9% of its area; it is the 7th most densely populated of them.
Hesse lies about 12° of latitude (roughly 1,280 km) north of Maryland.
Shared out evenly, each person in Maryland would have about 4,120 m² and each person in Hesse about 3,390 m².
Laid side by side, Maryland and Hesse would cover 46,500 km², about the same size as Estonia.
Together they have 12.4 million people, about as many people as Bolivia.

Side by side

	Maryland	Hesse
Is a	StateUnited States	StateGermany
Area, measured	25,500 km²9,830 mi²	21,000 km²8,110 mi²
Official area	32,100 km²Wikidata	21,100 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	42nd of 51in the United States	7th of 16in Germany
Population	6.2 millionWikidata, 2020	6.2 millionWikidata, 2022
Rank by population	18th of 51in the United States	5th of 16in Germany
Density	243 per km²	295 per km²
Capital	Annapolis	Wiesbaden
Latitude range	38°N to 40°N	49°N to 52°N

Population: Wikidata 2020 and Wikidata 2022. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Our measured 25,500 km² is 21% below Wikidata's official figure of 32,100 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently. This difference is flagged for review.
Wikidata's official figure of 21,100 km² agrees with our measured area of 21,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Maryland

Similar in size to Hesse

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth. A region is drawn whole, every island included; a country is its main territory.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outlines, shown rounded.
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: 2026-11-12

Full method