Nicaragua is 1.05× the size of North Korea

Nicaragua covers about 129,000 km² (49,700 mi²) and North Korea about 122,000 km² (47,300 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

129,000km²Nicaragua
122,000km²North Korea

100 km

Nicaragua
North Korea

What fits

North Korea is 95% of the size of Nicaragua.
Nicaragua is larger by 6,310 km² (2,430 mi²), which is 5.2% of the area of North Korea.
Measured in Belgiums: Nicaragua is about 4.20, North Korea about 3.99.

How they differ

Nicaragua is larger, but North Korea has the larger population: 26.4 million against 5.1 million, 5.14× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 216 in North Korea against 40 in Nicaragua: North Korea is 5.40× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 13,300 km apart.
On a standard web map North Korea looks larger than Nicaragua: Nicaragua at 13°N is drawn about 1.1× too large and North Korea at 40°N about 1.7×, so the map shows North Korea as 1.55× the size of Nicaragua, when Nicaragua is 1.05× the size of North Korea.
Together Nicaragua and North Korea cover 251,000 km², close to the size of Ecuador (255,000 km², 1.6% bigger).
The gap between them, 6,310 km², is about the size of Palestine (6,070 km²).
At North Korea's density, Nicaragua would have 27.8 million people (it has 5.1 million). At Nicaragua's density, North Korea would have 4.9 million (it has 26.4 million).
North Korea's centre is 27.3° of latitude, about 3,040 km, farther north than Nicaragua's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Nicaragua	1.05×
More people	North Korea	5.14×
More crowded	North Korea	5.40×
Farther north	North Korea	27.3° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	North Korea	1.7× against 1.1×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Nicaragua	North Korea
Belgium 30,700 km²	4.20×	3.99×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	0.53×	0.50×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.36×	0.34×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.34×	0.33×
France 548,000 km²	0.23×	0.22×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.04×	0.04×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.02×	0.01×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.01×	0.01×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.01×	0.01×

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

Side by side

	Nicaragua	North Korea
Area, main territory	129,000 km²49,700 mi²	122,000 km²47,300 mi²
Population	5.1 millionWikidata, 2005	26.4 millionWikidata, 2023
Density	40 per km²	216 per km²
Official area	120,000 km²Wikidata	121,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Managua	Pyongyang
Latitude range	11°N to 15°N	38°N to 43°N
Continent	North America	Asia

Population: Wikidata 2005 and Wikidata 2023, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Our measured 129,000 km² is 6.9% above Wikidata's official figure of 120,000 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 121,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 122,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Nicaragua

Similar in size to North Korea

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