North Rhine-Westphalia is 1.36× the size of Maryland

North Rhine-Westphalia (state of Germany) covers about 34,500 km² (13,300 mi²) and Maryland (state of the United States) about 25,500 km² (9,830 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

34,500km²North Rhine-Westphalia
25,500km²Maryland

100 km

North Rhine-Westphalia
Maryland

What fits

Maryland is 74% of the size of North Rhine-Westphalia.
North Rhine-Westphalia is larger by 9,080 km² (3,500 mi²), which is 36% of the area of Maryland.
Measured in Belgiums: North Rhine-Westphalia is about 1.13, Maryland about 0.83.

How they differ

North Rhine-Westphalia also has the larger population: 17.9 million against 6.2 million, 2.90× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 518 in North Rhine-Westphalia against 243 in Maryland: North Rhine-Westphalia is 2.14× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 6,370 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: North Rhine-Westphalia at 51°N is drawn about 2.6× too large and Maryland at 39°N about 1.7×, so the map shows North Rhine-Westphalia as 2.11× the size of Maryland instead of 1.36×.
Together North Rhine-Westphalia and Maryland cover 60,000 km², close to the size of Togo (56,900 km², 5.2% smaller).
The gap between them, 9,080 km², is about the size of Lebanon (10,000 km²).
At Maryland's density, North Rhine-Westphalia would have 8.4 million people (it has 17.9 million). At North Rhine-Westphalia's density, Maryland would have 13.2 million (it has 6.2 million).
North Rhine-Westphalia's centre is 12.4° of latitude, about 1,380 km, farther north than Maryland'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.
Maryland is the 42nd largest of the 51 states and districts of the United States and covers 0.3% of its area; it is the 6th most densely populated of them.
North Rhine-Westphalia lies about 12° of latitude (roughly 1,380 km) north of Maryland.
Shared out evenly, each person in North Rhine-Westphalia would have about 1,930 m² and each person in Maryland about 4,120 m².
Laid side by side, North Rhine-Westphalia and Maryland would cover 60,000 km², 1.06× the size of Togo.
Together they have 24.1 million people, about as many people as Syria.

Side by side

	North Rhine-Westphalia	Maryland
Is a	StateGermany	StateUnited States
Area, measured	34,500 km²13,300 mi²	25,500 km²9,830 mi²
Official area	34,100 km²Wikidata	32,100 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	4th of 16in Germany	42nd of 51in the United States
Population	17.9 millionWikidata, 2022	6.2 millionWikidata, 2020
Rank by population	1st of 16in Germany	18th of 51in the United States
Density	518 per km²	243 per km²
Capital	Düsseldorf	Annapolis
Latitude range	50°N to 53°N	38°N to 40°N

Population: Wikidata 2022 and Wikidata 2020. 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 25,500 km² is 21% below Wikidata's official figure of 32,100 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 Maryland

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, 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