Norway is 1.02× the size of Japan

Norway covers about 382,000 km² (147,000 mi²) and Japan about 374,000 km² (144,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

382,000km²Norway
374,000km²Japan

500 km

Norway
Japan

What fits

Japan is 98% of the size of Norway.
Norway is larger by 8,510 km² (3,290 mi²), which is 2.3% of the area of Japan.
Measured in Belgiums: Norway is about 12.5, Japan about 12.2.

How they differ

Norway is larger, but Japan has the larger population: 123.8 million against 5.6 million, 22.0× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 331 in Japan against 15 in Norway: Japan is 22.5× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 7,560 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Norway at 66°N is drawn about 6.2× too large and Japan at 37°N about 1.6×, so the map shows Norway as 4.02× the size of Japan instead of 1.02×.
Together Norway and Japan cover 756,000 km², close to the size of Zambia (752,000 km², 0.5% smaller).
The gap between them, 8,510 km², is about the size of Lebanon (10,000 km²).
At Japan's density, Norway would have 126.6 million people (it has 5.6 million). At Norway's density, Japan would have 5.5 million (it has 123.8 million).
Norway's centre is 29.0° of latitude, about 3,220 km, farther north than Japan's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Norway	1.02×
More people	Japan	22.0×
More crowded	Japan	22.5×
Farther north	Norway	29.0° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Norway	6.2× against 1.6×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Norway	Japan
Belgium 30,700 km²	12.5×	12.2×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	1.57×	1.53×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.07×	1.04×
France 548,000 km²	0.70×	0.68×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.12×	0.12×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.05×	0.04×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.04×	0.04×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.02×	0.02×

Each figure is the place's area divided by the yardstick's.

Side by side

	Norway	Japan
Area, main territory	382,000 km²147,000 mi²	374,000 km²144,000 mi²
Population	5.6 millionWikidata, 2026	123.8 millionWikidata, 2024
Density	15 per km²	331 per km²
Official area	385,000 km²Wikidata	378,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Oslo	Tokyo
Latitude range	58°N to 81°N	24°N to 46°N
Continent	Europe	Asia

Population: Wikidata 2026 and Wikidata 2024, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 385,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 382,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 378,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 374,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Norway

Similar in size to Japan

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 - Countries, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth. Main territory: the largest landmass and every part within 1,000 km of it.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outlines, shown rounded. Comparisons use main-territory area.
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: 2026-11-11

Full method