North Rhine-Westphalia is 1.13× the size of Belgium

North Rhine-Westphalia (state of Germany) covers about 34,500 km² (13,300 mi²) and Belgium (Europe) about 30,700 km² (11,800 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

34,500km²North Rhine-Westphalia
30,700km²Belgium

50 km

North Rhine-Westphalia
Belgium

What fits

Belgium is 89% of the size of North Rhine-Westphalia.
North Rhine-Westphalia is larger by 3,870 km² (1,490 mi²), which is 13% of the area of Belgium.
Measured in Switzerlands: North Rhine-Westphalia is about 0.83, Belgium about 0.74.

How they differ

North Rhine-Westphalia also has the larger population: 17.9 million against 11.8 million, 1.51× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 518 in North Rhine-Westphalia against 386 in Belgium: North Rhine-Westphalia is 1.34× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 223 km apart.
Together North Rhine-Westphalia and Belgium cover 65,200 km², close to the size of Lithuania (64,900 km², 0.4% smaller).
The gap between them, 3,870 km², is about the size of Cape Verde (3,930 km²).
At Belgium's density, North Rhine-Westphalia would have 13.3 million people (it has 17.9 million). At North Rhine-Westphalia's density, Belgium would have 15.9 million (it has 11.8 million).
North Rhine-Westphalia's centre is 0.8° of latitude, about 90 km, farther north than Belgium's.
North Rhine-Westphalia is the 4th largest of the 16 states of Germany and covers 9.7% of its area; it is the 4th most densely populated of them.
Belgium ranks 141st of 246 countries and territories by area.
Both lie at about the same latitude, 51°N and 51°N.
Shared out evenly, each person in North Rhine-Westphalia would have about 1,930 m² and each person in Belgium about 2,590 m².
Laid side by side, North Rhine-Westphalia and Belgium would cover 65,200 km², about the same size as Lithuania.
Together they have 29.7 million people, about as many people as Mozambique.
Counted as a country, North Rhine-Westphalia would rank 138th by area and 68th by population.

Side by side

	North Rhine-Westphalia	Belgium
Is a	StateGermany	CountryEurope
Area, measured	34,500 km²13,300 mi²	30,700 km²11,800 mi²
Official area	34,100 km²Wikidata	30,700 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	4th of 16in Germany	140th of 239worldwide
Population	17.9 millionWikidata, 2022	11.8 millionWikidata, 2025
Rank by population	1st of 16in Germany	80th of 237worldwide
Density	518 per km²	386 per km²
Capital	Düsseldorf	Brussels
Latitude range	50°N to 53°N	49°N to 51°N

Population: Wikidata 2022 and Wikidata 2025. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 34,100 km² agrees with our measured area of 34,500 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 30,700 km² agrees with our measured area of 30,700 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to North Rhine-Westphalia

Similar in size to Belgium

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