Netherlands is 2.40× the size of Schleswig-Holstein

Netherlands (Europe) covers about 37,100 km² (14,300 mi²) and Schleswig-Holstein (state of Germany) about 15,400 km² (5,960 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

37,100km²Netherlands
15,400km²Schleswig-Holstein

50 km

Netherlands
Schleswig-Holstein

What fits

Schleswig-Holstein fits inside Netherlands about 2.40 times by area.
Netherlands is larger by 21,700 km² (8,370 mi²), which is 140% of the area of Schleswig-Holstein.
Measured in Belgiums: Netherlands is about 1.21, Schleswig-Holstein about 0.50.

How they differ

Netherlands also has the larger population: 17.9 million against 3.0 million, 6.08× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 480 in Netherlands against 191 in Schleswig-Holstein: Netherlands is 2.51× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 355 km apart.
Together Netherlands and Schleswig-Holstein cover 52,500 km², close to the size of Bosnia and Herzegovina (51,800 km², 1.4% smaller).
The gap between them, 21,700 km², is about the size of Djibouti (21,800 km²).
At Schleswig-Holstein's density, Netherlands would have 7.2 million people (it has 17.9 million). At Netherlands's density, Schleswig-Holstein would have 7.4 million (it has 3.0 million).
Schleswig-Holstein's centre is 1.9° of latitude, about 210 km, farther north than Netherlands's.
Netherlands ranks 137th of 246 countries and territories by area.
Schleswig-Holstein is the 12th largest of the 16 states of Germany and covers 4.3% of its area; it is the 10th most densely populated of them.
Both lie at about the same latitude, 52°N and 54°N.
Shared out evenly, each person in Netherlands would have about 2,080 m² and each person in Schleswig-Holstein about 5,230 m².
Laid side by side, Netherlands and Schleswig-Holstein would cover 52,500 km², about the same size as Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Together they have 20.9 million people, about as many people as Sri Lanka.
Counted as a country, Schleswig-Holstein would rank 159th by area and 137th by population.

Side by side

	Netherlands	Schleswig-Holstein
Is a	CountryEurope	StateGermany
Area, measured	37,100 km²14,300 mi²	15,400 km²5,960 mi²
Official area	37,400 km²Wikidata	15,800 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	136th of 239worldwide	12th of 16in Germany
Population	17.9 millionWikidata, 2024	3.0 millionWikidata, 2022
Rank by population	67th of 237worldwide	9th of 16in Germany
Density	480 per km²	191 per km²
Capital	Amsterdam	Kiel
Latitude range	51°N to 54°N	53°N to 55°N

Population: Wikidata 2024 and Wikidata 2022. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 37,400 km² agrees with our measured area of 37,400 km², to within 2%.
Our measured 15,400 km² is 2.3% below Wikidata's official figure of 15,800 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently.

Similar in size to Netherlands

Similar in size to Schleswig-Holstein

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain for the region; Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 - Countries, 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