New Zealand is 1.10× the size of United Kingdom

New Zealand covers about 268,000 km² (104,000 mi²) and United Kingdom about 244,000 km² (94,100 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

268,000km²New Zealand
244,000km²United Kingdom

500 km

New Zealand
United Kingdom

What fits

United Kingdom is 91% of the size of New Zealand.
New Zealand is larger by 24,700 km² (9,540 mi²), which is 10% of the area of United Kingdom.
Measured in Belgiums: New Zealand is about 8.75, United Kingdom about 7.95.

How they differ

New Zealand is larger, but United Kingdom has the larger population: 67.3 million against 5.3 million, 12.7× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 276 in United Kingdom against 20 in New Zealand: United Kingdom is 14.0× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 18,600 km apart.
On a standard web map United Kingdom looks larger than New Zealand: New Zealand at 42°S is drawn about 1.8× too large and United Kingdom at 54°N about 2.9×, so the map shows United Kingdom as 1.47× the size of New Zealand, when New Zealand is 1.10× the size of United Kingdom.
Together New Zealand and United Kingdom cover 512,000 km², close to the size of Thailand (514,000 km², 0.4% bigger).
The gap between them, 24,700 km², is about the size of Rwanda (25,300 km²).
At United Kingdom's density, New Zealand would have 74.2 million people (it has 5.3 million). At New Zealand's density, United Kingdom would have 4.8 million (it has 67.3 million).
United Kingdom's centre is 95.8° of latitude, about 10,650 km, farther north than New Zealand's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	New Zealand	1.10×
More people	United Kingdom	12.7×
More crowded	United Kingdom	14.0×
Farther north	United Kingdom	95.8° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	United Kingdom	2.9× against 1.8×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	New Zealand	United Kingdom
Belgium 30,700 km²	8.75×	7.95×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.75×	0.68×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.72×	0.65×
France 548,000 km²	0.49×	0.44×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.09×	0.08×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.03×	0.03×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.03×	0.03×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.02×	0.01×

Each figure is the place's area divided by the yardstick's.

Side by side

	New Zealand	United Kingdom
Area, main territory	268,000 km²104,000 mi²	244,000 km²94,100 mi²
Population	5.3 millionWikidata, 2024	67.3 millionWikidata, 2021
Density	20 per km²	276 per km²
Official area	268,000 km²Wikidata	242,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Wellington	London
Latitude range	53°S to 29°S	50°N to 61°N
Continent	Oceania	Europe

Population: Wikidata 2024 and Wikidata 2021, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 268,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 269,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 242,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 244,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to New Zealand

Similar in size to United Kingdom

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