North Rhine-Westphalia is 1.04× the size of Moldova

North Rhine-Westphalia (state of Germany) covers about 34,500 km² (13,300 mi²) and Moldova (Europe) about 33,200 km² (12,800 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

34,500km²North Rhine-Westphalia
33,200km²Moldova

50 km

North Rhine-Westphalia
Moldova

What fits

Moldova is 96% of the size of North Rhine-Westphalia.
North Rhine-Westphalia is larger by 1,330 km² (514 mi²), which is 4.0% of the area of Moldova.
Measured in Belgiums: North Rhine-Westphalia is about 1.13, Moldova about 1.08.

How they differ

North Rhine-Westphalia also has the larger population: 17.9 million against 2.4 million, 7.43× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 518 in North Rhine-Westphalia against 73 in Moldova: North Rhine-Westphalia is 7.14× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 1,580 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: North Rhine-Westphalia at 51°N is drawn about 2.6× too large and Moldova at 47°N about 2.2×, so the map shows North Rhine-Westphalia as 1.24× the size of Moldova instead of 1.04×.
Together North Rhine-Westphalia and Moldova cover 67,700 km², close to the size of Sri Lanka (66,300 km², 2.1% smaller).
The gap between them, 1,330 km², is about the size of Comoros (1,670 km²).
At Moldova's density, North Rhine-Westphalia would have 2.5 million people (it has 17.9 million). At North Rhine-Westphalia's density, Moldova would have 17.2 million (it has 2.4 million).
North Rhine-Westphalia's centre is 4.3° of latitude, about 480 km, farther north than Moldova'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.
Moldova ranks 139th of 246 countries and territories by area.
North Rhine-Westphalia lies about 4° of latitude (roughly 476 km) north of Moldova.
Shared out evenly, each person in North Rhine-Westphalia would have about 1,930 m² and each person in Moldova about 13,780 m².
Laid side by side, North Rhine-Westphalia and Moldova would cover 67,700 km², about the same size as Sri Lanka.
Together they have 20.3 million people, about as many people as Kazakhstan.
Counted as a country, North Rhine-Westphalia would rank 138th by area and 68th by population.

Side by side

	North Rhine-Westphalia	Moldova
Is a	StateGermany	CountryEurope
Area, measured	34,500 km²13,300 mi²	33,200 km²12,800 mi²
Official area	34,100 km²Wikidata	33,800 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	4th of 16in Germany	138th of 239worldwide
Population	17.9 millionWikidata, 2022	2.4 millionWikidata, 2024
Rank by population	1st of 16in Germany	145th of 237worldwide
Density	518 per km²	73 per km²
Capital	Düsseldorf	Chișinău
Latitude range	50°N to 53°N	45°N to 48°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 33,800 km² agrees with our measured area of 33,200 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to North Rhine-Westphalia

Similar in size to Moldova

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