North Rhine-Westphalia is 1.07× the size of Pays de la Loire

North Rhine-Westphalia (state of Germany) covers about 34,500 km² (13,300 mi²) and Pays de la Loire (region of France) about 32,100 km² (12,400 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

34,500km²North Rhine-Westphalia
32,100km²Pays de la Loire

50 km

North Rhine-Westphalia
Pays de la Loire

What fits

Pays de la Loire is 93% of the size of North Rhine-Westphalia.
North Rhine-Westphalia is larger by 2,410 km² (929 mi²), which is 7.5% of the area of Pays de la Loire.
Measured in Belgiums: North Rhine-Westphalia is about 1.13, Pays de la Loire about 1.05.

How they differ

North Rhine-Westphalia also has the larger population: 17.9 million against 3.9 million, 4.61× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 518 in North Rhine-Westphalia against 121 in Pays de la Loire: North Rhine-Westphalia is 4.29× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 749 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: North Rhine-Westphalia at 51°N is drawn about 2.6× too large and Pays de la Loire at 47°N about 2.2×, so the map shows North Rhine-Westphalia as 1.27× the size of Pays de la Loire instead of 1.07×.
Together North Rhine-Westphalia and Pays de la Loire cover 66,700 km², close to the size of Sri Lanka (66,300 km², 0.6% smaller).
The gap between them, 2,410 km², is about the size of Luxembourg (2,610 km²).
At Pays de la Loire's density, North Rhine-Westphalia would have 4.2 million people (it has 17.9 million). At North Rhine-Westphalia's density, Pays de la Loire would have 16.6 million (it has 3.9 million).
North Rhine-Westphalia's centre is 4.0° of latitude, about 440 km, farther north than Pays de la Loire'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.
Pays de la Loire is the 8th largest of the 18 regions of France and covers 5.0% of its area; it is the 9th most densely populated of them.
North Rhine-Westphalia lies about 4° of latitude (roughly 444 km) north of Pays de la Loire.
Shared out evenly, each person in North Rhine-Westphalia would have about 1,930 m² and each person in Pays de la Loire about 8,280 m².
Laid side by side, North Rhine-Westphalia and Pays de la Loire would cover 66,700 km², about the same size as Sri Lanka.
Together they have 21.8 million people, about as many people as Niger.

Side by side

	North Rhine-Westphalia	Pays de la Loire
Is a	StateGermany	RegionFrance
Area, measured	34,500 km²13,300 mi²	32,100 km²12,400 mi²
Official area	34,100 km²Wikidata	32,100 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	4th of 16in Germany	8th of 18in France
Population	17.9 millionWikidata, 2022	3.9 millionWikidata, 2022
Rank by population	1st of 16in Germany	8th of 18in France
Density	518 per km²	121 per km²
Capital	Düsseldorf	Nantes
Latitude range	50°N to 53°N	46°N to 49°N

Population: Wikidata 2022. 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 32,100 km² agrees with our measured area of 32,100 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to North Rhine-Westphalia

Similar in size to Pays de la Loire

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain. The outline of Pays de la Loire is the departments 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