North Rhine-Westphalia is 1.34× the size of Sicily (Italy)

North Rhine-Westphalia (state of Germany) covers about 34,500 km² (13,300 mi²) and Sicily (Italy) (region of Italy) about 25,900 km² (9,990 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

34,500km²North Rhine-Westphalia
25,900km²Sicily (Italy)

100 km

North Rhine-Westphalia
Sicily (Italy)

What fits

Sicily (Italy) is 75% of the size of North Rhine-Westphalia.
North Rhine-Westphalia is larger by 8,670 km² (3,350 mi²), which is 34% of the area of Sicily (Italy).
Measured in Belgiums: North Rhine-Westphalia is about 1.13, Sicily (Italy) about 0.84.

How they differ

North Rhine-Westphalia also has the larger population: 17.9 million against 5.0 million, 3.59× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 518 in North Rhine-Westphalia against 193 in Sicily (Italy): North Rhine-Westphalia is 2.69× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 1,630 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: North Rhine-Westphalia at 51°N is drawn about 2.6× too large and Sicily (Italy) at 38°N about 1.6×, so the map shows North Rhine-Westphalia as 2.16× the size of Sicily (Italy) instead of 1.34×.
Together North Rhine-Westphalia and Sicily (Italy) cover 60,400 km², close to the size of Togo (56,900 km², 5.9% smaller).
The gap between them, 8,670 km², is about the size of Lebanon (10,000 km²).
At Sicily (Italy)'s density, North Rhine-Westphalia would have 6.7 million people (it has 17.9 million). At North Rhine-Westphalia's density, Sicily (Italy) would have 13.4 million (it has 5.0 million).
North Rhine-Westphalia's centre is 13.9° of latitude, about 1,540 km, farther north than Sicily (Italy)'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.
Sicily (Italy) is the largest of the 20 regions of Italy and covers 8.6% of its area; it is the 8th most densely populated of them.
North Rhine-Westphalia lies about 14° of latitude (roughly 1,540 km) north of Sicily (Italy).
Shared out evenly, each person in North Rhine-Westphalia would have about 1,930 m² and each person in Sicily (Italy) about 5,190 m².
Laid side by side, North Rhine-Westphalia and Sicily (Italy) would cover 60,400 km², 1.06× the size of Togo.
Together they have 22.9 million people, about as many people as Burkina Faso.

Side by side

	North Rhine-Westphalia	Sicily (Italy)
Is a	StateGermany	RegionItaly
Area, measured	34,500 km²13,300 mi²	25,900 km²9,990 mi²
Official area	34,100 km²Wikidata	25,700 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	4th of 16in Germany	1st of 20in Italy
Population	17.9 millionWikidata, 2022	5.0 millionWikidata, 2019
Rank by population	1st of 16in Germany	4th of 20in Italy
Density	518 per km²	193 per km²
Capital	Düsseldorf	Palermo
Latitude range	50°N to 53°N	35°N to 39°N

Population: Wikidata 2022 and Wikidata 2019. 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 25,700 km² agrees with our measured area of 25,900 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to North Rhine-Westphalia

Similar in size to Sicily (Italy)

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain. The outline of Sicily (Italy) 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