Maryland is 1.65× the size of Iwate

Maryland (state of the United States) covers about 25,500 km² (9,830 mi²) and Iwate (prefecture of Japan) about 15,500 km² (5,970 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

25,500km²Maryland
15,500km²Iwate

100 km

Maryland
Iwate

What fits

Iwate is 61% of the size of Maryland.
Maryland is larger by 9,990 km² (3,860 mi²), which is 65% of the area of Iwate.
Measured in Belgiums: Maryland is about 0.83, Iwate about 0.50.

How they differ

Maryland also has the larger population: 6.2 million against 1.2 million, 5.12× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 243 in Maryland against 78 in Iwate: Maryland is 3.11× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 10,400 km apart.
Together Maryland and Iwate cover 40,900 km², close to the size of Switzerland (41,400 km², 1.2% bigger).
The gap between them, 9,990 km², is about the size of Lebanon (10,000 km²).
At Iwate's density, Maryland would have 2.0 million people (it has 6.2 million). At Maryland's density, Iwate would have 3.8 million (it has 1.2 million).
Iwate's centre is 0.5° of latitude, about 60 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.
Iwate is the 2nd largest of the 47 prefectures of Japan and covers 4.1% of its area; it is the 46th most densely populated of them.
Both lie at about the same latitude, 39°N and 40°N.
Shared out evenly, each person in Maryland would have about 4,120 m² and each person in Iwate about 12,830 m².
Laid side by side, Maryland and Iwate would cover 40,900 km², about the same size as Switzerland.
Together they have 7.4 million people, about as many people as Libya.

Side by side

	Maryland	Iwate
Is a	StateUnited States	PrefectureJapan
Area, measured	25,500 km²9,830 mi²	15,500 km²5,970 mi²
Official area	32,100 km²Wikidata	15,300 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	42nd of 51in the United States	2nd of 47in Japan
Population	6.2 millionWikidata, 2020	1.2 millionWikidata, 2021
Rank by population	18th of 51in the United States	32nd of 47in Japan
Density	243 per km²	78 per km²
Capital	Annapolis	Morioka
Latitude range	38°N to 40°N	39°N to 40°N

Population: Wikidata 2020 and Wikidata 2021. 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 15,300 km² agrees with our measured area of 15,500 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Maryland

Similar in size to Iwate

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