Rio de Janeiro is 1.03× the size of Denmark

Rio de Janeiro (state of Brazil) covers about 44,000 km² (17,000 mi²) and Denmark (Europe) about 42,700 km² (16,500 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

44,000km²Rio de Janeiro
42,700km²Denmark

100 km

Rio de Janeiro
Denmark

What fits

Denmark is 97% of the size of Rio de Janeiro.
Rio de Janeiro is larger by 1,280 km² (495 mi²), which is 3.0% of the area of Denmark.
Measured in Belgiums: Rio de Janeiro is about 1.43, Denmark about 1.39.

How they differ

Rio de Janeiro also has the larger population: 16.1 million against 5.8 million, 2.76× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 365 in Rio de Janeiro against 136 in Denmark: Rio de Janeiro is 2.68× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 10,000 km apart.
On a standard web map Denmark looks larger than Rio de Janeiro: Rio de Janeiro at 22°S is drawn about 1.2× too large and Denmark at 56°N about 3.2×, so the map shows Denmark as 2.66× the size of Rio de Janeiro, when Rio de Janeiro is 1.03× the size of Denmark.
Together Rio de Janeiro and Denmark cover 86,700 km², close to the size of Azerbaijan (86,200 km², 0.5% smaller).
The gap between them, 1,280 km², is about the size of São Tomé and Príncipe (1,040 km²).
At Denmark's density, Rio de Janeiro would have 6.0 million people (it has 16.1 million). At Rio de Janeiro's density, Denmark would have 15.6 million (it has 5.8 million).
Denmark's centre is 78.2° of latitude, about 8,690 km, farther north than Rio de Janeiro's.
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.
Denmark ranks 134th of 246 countries and territories by area.
Denmark lies about 78° of latitude (roughly 8,690 km) north of Rio de Janeiro, on the other side of the equator.
Shared out evenly, each person in Rio de Janeiro would have about 2,740 m² and each person in Denmark about 7,330 m².
Laid side by side, Rio de Janeiro and Denmark would cover 86,700 km², about the same size as Azerbaijan.
Together they have 21.9 million people, about as many people as Niger.
Counted as a country, Rio de Janeiro would rank 133rd by area and 74th by population.

Side by side

	Rio de Janeiro	Denmark
Is a	StateBrazil	CountryEurope
Area, measured	44,000 km²17,000 mi²	42,700 km²16,500 mi²
Official area	43,700 km²Wikidata	42,900 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	24th of 27in Brazil	133rd of 239worldwide
Population	16.1 millionWikidata, 2022	5.8 millionWikidata, 2020
Rank by population	3rd of 27in Brazil	115th of 237worldwide
Density	365 per km²	136 per km²
Capital	Rio de Janeiro	Copenhagen
Latitude range	23°S to 21°S	55°N to 58°N

Population: Wikidata 2022 and Wikidata 2020. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 43,700 km² agrees with our measured area of 44,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 42,900 km² agrees with our measured area of 42,700 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Rio de Janeiro

Similar in size to Denmark

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain for the region; Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 - Countries, 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