Nova Scotia is 1.25× the size of Rio de Janeiro

Nova Scotia (province of Canada) covers about 55,100 km² (21,300 mi²) and Rio de Janeiro (state of Brazil) about 44,000 km² (17,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

55,100km²Nova Scotia
44,000km²Rio de Janeiro

100 km

Nova Scotia
Rio de Janeiro

What fits

Rio de Janeiro is 80% of the size of Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia is larger by 11,100 km² (4,300 mi²), which is 25% of the area of Rio de Janeiro.
Measured in Belgiums: Nova Scotia is about 1.80, Rio de Janeiro about 1.43.

How they differ

Nova Scotia is larger, but Rio de Janeiro has the larger population: 16.1 million against 969,000, 16.6× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 365 in Rio de Janeiro against 18 in Nova Scotia: Rio de Janeiro is 20.8× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 7,780 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Nova Scotia at 45°N is drawn about 2.0× too large and Rio de Janeiro at 22°S about 1.2×, so the map shows Nova Scotia as 2.16× the size of Rio de Janeiro instead of 1.25×.
Together Nova Scotia and Rio de Janeiro cover 99,100 km², close to the size of South Korea (98,500 km², 0.5% smaller).
The gap between them, 11,100 km², is about the size of Qatar (11,200 km²).
At Rio de Janeiro's density, Nova Scotia would have 20.1 million people (it has 969,000). At Nova Scotia's density, Rio de Janeiro would have 774,000 (it has 16.1 million).
Nova Scotia's centre is 67.3° of latitude, about 7,490 km, farther north than Rio de Janeiro's.
Nova Scotia is the 12th largest of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada and covers 0.6% of its area; it is the 2nd most densely populated of them.
Rio de Janeiro is the 24th largest of the 27 states and districts of Brazil and covers 0.5% of its area; it is the 2nd most densely populated of them.
Nova Scotia lies about 67° of latitude (roughly 7,490 km) north of Rio de Janeiro, on the other side of the equator.
Shared out evenly, each person in Nova Scotia would have about 56,850 m² and each person in Rio de Janeiro about 2,740 m².
Laid side by side, Nova Scotia and Rio de Janeiro would cover 99,100 km², about the same size as South Korea.
Together they have 17.0 million people, about as many people as Ecuador.

Side by side

	Nova Scotia	Rio de Janeiro
Is a	ProvinceCanada	StateBrazil
Area, measured	55,100 km²21,300 mi²	44,000 km²17,000 mi²
Official area	55,300 km²Wikidata	43,700 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	12th of 13in Canada	24th of 27in Brazil
Population	969,000Wikidata, 2021	16.1 millionWikidata, 2022
Rank by population	7th of 13in Canada	3rd of 27in Brazil
Density	18 per km²	365 per km²
Capital	Halifax	Rio de Janeiro
Latitude range	43°N to 47°N	23°S to 21°S

Population: Wikidata 2021 and Wikidata 2022. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 55,300 km² agrees with our measured area of 55,100 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 43,700 km² agrees with our measured area of 44,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Nova Scotia

Similar in size to Rio de Janeiro

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