North Korea is 1.02× the size of Malawi

North Korea covers about 122,000 km² (47,300 mi²) and Malawi about 119,000 km² (46,100 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

122,000km²North Korea
119,000km²Malawi

100 km

North Korea
Malawi

What fits

Malawi is 98% of the size of North Korea.
North Korea is larger by 2,980 km² (1,150 mi²), which is 2.5% of the area of Malawi.
Measured in Belgiums: North Korea is about 3.99, Malawi about 3.89.

How they differ

North Korea also has the larger population: 26.4 million against 17.6 million, 1.50× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 216 in North Korea against 147 in Malawi: North Korea is 1.47× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 11,200 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: North Korea at 40°N is drawn about 1.7× too large and Malawi at 13°S about 1.1×, so the map shows North Korea as 1.66× the size of Malawi instead of 1.02×.
Together North Korea and Malawi cover 242,000 km², close to the size of Uganda (242,000 km², 0.0% bigger).
The gap between them, 2,980 km², is about the size of Samoa (2,780 km²).
At Malawi's density, North Korea would have 18.0 million people (it has 26.4 million). At North Korea's density, Malawi would have 25.8 million (it has 17.6 million).
North Korea's centre is 53.3° of latitude, about 5,930 km, farther north than Malawi's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	North Korea	1.02×
More people	North Korea	1.50×
More crowded	North Korea	1.47×
Farther north	North Korea	53.3° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	North Korea	1.7× against 1.1×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	North Korea	Malawi
Belgium 30,700 km²	3.99×	3.89×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	0.50×	0.49×
Germany 358,000 km²	0.34×	0.33×
Japan 374,000 km²	0.33×	0.32×
France 548,000 km²	0.22×	0.22×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.04×	0.04×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.01×	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

	North Korea	Malawi
Area, main territory	122,000 km²47,300 mi²	119,000 km²46,100 mi²
Population	26.4 millionWikidata, 2023	17.6 millionWikidata, 2018
Density	216 per km²	147 per km²
Official area	121,000 km²Wikidata	118,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Pyongyang	Lilongwe
Latitude range	38°N to 43°N	17°S to 9°S
Continent	Asia	Africa

Population: Wikidata 2023 and Wikidata 2018, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 121,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 122,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 118,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 119,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to North Korea

Similar in size to Malawi

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