North Rhine-Westphalia is 1.05× the size of Guinea-Bissau

North Rhine-Westphalia (state of Germany) covers about 34,500 km² (13,300 mi²) and Guinea-Bissau (Africa) about 32,800 km² (12,700 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

34,500km²North Rhine-Westphalia
32,800km²Guinea-Bissau

100 km

North Rhine-Westphalia
Guinea-Bissau

What fits

Guinea-Bissau is 95% of the size of North Rhine-Westphalia.
North Rhine-Westphalia is larger by 1,710 km² (660 mi²), which is 5.2% of the area of Guinea-Bissau.
Measured in Belgiums: North Rhine-Westphalia is about 1.13, Guinea-Bissau about 1.07.

How they differ

North Rhine-Westphalia also has the larger population: 17.9 million against 1.9 million, 9.61× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 518 in North Rhine-Westphalia against 57 in Guinea-Bissau: North Rhine-Westphalia is 9.14× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 4,830 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: North Rhine-Westphalia at 51°N is drawn about 2.6× too large and Guinea-Bissau at 12°N about 1.0×, so the map shows North Rhine-Westphalia as 2.59× the size of Guinea-Bissau instead of 1.05×.
Together North Rhine-Westphalia and Guinea-Bissau cover 67,400 km², close to the size of Sri Lanka (66,300 km², 1.6% smaller).
The gap between them, 1,710 km², is about the size of Comoros (1,670 km²).
At Guinea-Bissau's density, North Rhine-Westphalia would have 2.0 million people (it has 17.9 million). At North Rhine-Westphalia's density, Guinea-Bissau would have 17.0 million (it has 1.9 million).
North Rhine-Westphalia's centre is 39.4° of latitude, about 4,390 km, farther north than Guinea-Bissau'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.
Guinea-Bissau ranks 140th of 246 countries and territories by area.
North Rhine-Westphalia lies about 39° of latitude (roughly 4,390 km) north of Guinea-Bissau.
Shared out evenly, each person in North Rhine-Westphalia would have about 1,930 m² and each person in Guinea-Bissau about 17,640 m².
Laid side by side, North Rhine-Westphalia and Guinea-Bissau would cover 67,400 km², about the same size as Sri Lanka.
Together they have 19.8 million people, about as many people as Zambia.
Counted as a country, North Rhine-Westphalia would rank 138th by area and 68th by population.

Side by side

	North Rhine-Westphalia	Guinea-Bissau
Is a	StateGermany	CountryAfrica
Area, measured	34,500 km²13,300 mi²	32,800 km²12,700 mi²
Official area	34,100 km²Wikidata	36,100 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	4th of 16in Germany	139th of 239worldwide
Population	17.9 millionWikidata, 2022	1.9 millionWikidata, 2017
Rank by population	1st of 16in Germany	149th of 237worldwide
Density	518 per km²	57 per km²
Capital	Düsseldorf	Bissau
Latitude range	50°N to 53°N	11°N to 13°N

Population: Wikidata 2022 and Wikidata 2017. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 34,100 km² agrees with our measured area of 34,500 km², to within 2%.
Our measured 32,800 km² is 9.1% below Wikidata's official figure of 36,100 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently. This difference is flagged for review.

Similar in size to North Rhine-Westphalia

Similar in size to Guinea-Bissau

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