North Rhine-Westphalia is 1.08× the size of Catalonia

North Rhine-Westphalia (state of Germany) covers about 34,500 km² (13,300 mi²) and Catalonia (autonomous community of Spain) about 32,000 km² (12,300 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

34,500km²North Rhine-Westphalia
32,000km²Catalonia

50 km

North Rhine-Westphalia
Catalonia

What fits

Catalonia is 93% of the size of North Rhine-Westphalia.
North Rhine-Westphalia is larger by 2,570 km² (991 mi²), which is 8.0% of the area of Catalonia.
Measured in Belgiums: North Rhine-Westphalia is about 1.13, Catalonia about 1.04.

How they differ

North Rhine-Westphalia also has the larger population: 17.9 million against 8.0 million, 2.23× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 518 in North Rhine-Westphalia against 251 in Catalonia: North Rhine-Westphalia is 2.06× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 1,170 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: North Rhine-Westphalia at 51°N is drawn about 2.6× too large and Catalonia at 42°N about 1.8×, so the map shows North Rhine-Westphalia as 1.55× the size of Catalonia instead of 1.08×.
Together North Rhine-Westphalia and Catalonia cover 66,500 km², close to the size of Sri Lanka (66,300 km², 0.3% smaller).
The gap between them, 2,570 km², is about the size of Luxembourg (2,610 km²).
At Catalonia's density, North Rhine-Westphalia would have 8.7 million people (it has 17.9 million). At North Rhine-Westphalia's density, Catalonia would have 16.6 million (it has 8.0 million).
North Rhine-Westphalia's centre is 9.7° of latitude, about 1,080 km, farther north than Catalonia'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.
Catalonia is the 6th largest of the 19 autonomous communities and cities of Spain and covers 6.3% of its area; it is the 6th most densely populated of them.
North Rhine-Westphalia lies about 10° of latitude (roughly 1,080 km) north of Catalonia.
Shared out evenly, each person in North Rhine-Westphalia would have about 1,930 m² and each person in Catalonia about 3,980 m².
Laid side by side, North Rhine-Westphalia and Catalonia would cover 66,500 km², about the same size as Sri Lanka.
Together they have 25.9 million people, about as many people as North Korea.

Side by side

	North Rhine-Westphalia	Catalonia
Is a	StateGermany	Autonomous communitySpain
Area, measured	34,500 km²13,300 mi²	32,000 km²12,300 mi²
Official area	34,100 km²Wikidata	31,900 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	4th of 16in Germany	6th of 19in Spain
Population	17.9 millionWikidata, 2022	8.0 millionWikidata, 2024
Rank by population	1st of 16in Germany	2nd of 19in Spain
Density	518 per km²	251 per km²
Capital	Düsseldorf	Barcelona
Latitude range	50°N to 53°N	41°N to 43°N

Population: Wikidata 2022 and Wikidata 2024. 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 31,900 km² agrees with our measured area of 32,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to North Rhine-Westphalia

Similar in size to Catalonia

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain. The outline of Catalonia is the provinces Natural Earth draws there, joined along their shared borders.
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