Puebla and North Rhine-Westphalia are almost exactly the same size

Puebla (state of Mexico) covers about 34,600 km² (13,400 mi²) and North Rhine-Westphalia (state of Germany) about 34,500 km² (13,300 mi²). Their outlines are laid over each other below at one scale.

34,600km²Puebla
34,500km²North Rhine-Westphalia

50 km

Puebla
North Rhine-Westphalia

What fits

North Rhine-Westphalia is 100% of the size of Puebla.
The measured areas differ by 52.9 km², less than half a percent: closer than the measurement itself is certain.
Measured in Belgiums: Puebla is about 1.13, North Rhine-Westphalia about 1.13.

How they differ

Puebla is larger, but North Rhine-Westphalia has the larger population: 17.9 million against 6.2 million, 2.90× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 518 in North Rhine-Westphalia against 178 in Puebla: North Rhine-Westphalia is 2.90× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 9,380 km apart.
On a standard web map North Rhine-Westphalia looks larger than Puebla: Puebla at 19°N is drawn about 1.1× too large and North Rhine-Westphalia at 51°N about 2.6×, so the map shows North Rhine-Westphalia as 2.30× the size of Puebla, when Puebla is 1.00× the size of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Together Puebla and North Rhine-Westphalia cover 69,100 km², close to the size of Ireland (69,400 km², 0.5% bigger).
At North Rhine-Westphalia's density, Puebla would have 17.9 million people (it has 6.2 million). At Puebla's density, North Rhine-Westphalia would have 6.2 million (it has 17.9 million).
North Rhine-Westphalia's centre is 32.5° of latitude, about 3,610 km, farther north than Puebla's.
Puebla is the 21st largest of the 32 states of Mexico and covers 1.8% of its area; it is the 7th most densely populated of them.
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.
North Rhine-Westphalia lies about 32° of latitude (roughly 3,610 km) north of Puebla.
Shared out evenly, each person in Puebla would have about 5,610 m² and each person in North Rhine-Westphalia about 1,930 m².
Laid side by side, Puebla and North Rhine-Westphalia would cover 69,100 km², about the same size as Ireland.
Together they have 24.1 million people, about as many people as Syria.

Side by side

	Puebla	North Rhine-Westphalia
Is a	StateMexico	StateGermany
Area, measured	34,600 km²13,400 mi²	34,500 km²13,300 mi²
Official area	34,300 km²Wikidata	34,100 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	21st of 32in Mexico	4th of 16in Germany
Population	6.2 millionWikidata, 2015	17.9 millionWikidata, 2022
Rank by population	5th of 32in Mexico	1st of 16in Germany
Density	178 per km²	518 per km²
Capital	Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza	Düsseldorf
Latitude range	18°N to 21°N	50°N to 53°N

Population: Wikidata 2015 and Wikidata 2022. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 34,300 km² agrees with our measured area of 34,600 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 34,100 km² agrees with our measured area of 34,500 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Puebla

Similar in size to North Rhine-Westphalia

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