Rio de Janeiro is 2.01× the size of State of Mexico

Rio de Janeiro (state of Brazil) covers about 44,000 km² (17,000 mi²) and State of Mexico (state of Mexico) about 21,800 km² (8,430 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

44,000km²Rio de Janeiro
21,800km²State of Mexico

100 km

Rio de Janeiro
State of Mexico

What fits

State of Mexico fits inside Rio de Janeiro about 2.01 times by area.
Rio de Janeiro is larger by 22,200 km² (8,550 mi²), which is 101% of the area of State of Mexico.
Measured in Belgiums: Rio de Janeiro is about 1.43, State of Mexico about 0.71.

How they differ

Rio de Janeiro is larger, but State of Mexico has the larger population: 16.2 million against 16.1 million, 1.01× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 742 in State of Mexico against 365 in Rio de Janeiro: State of Mexico is 2.03× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 7,720 km apart.
Together Rio de Janeiro and State of Mexico cover 65,800 km², close to the size of Sri Lanka (66,300 km², 0.7% bigger).
The gap between them, 22,200 km², is about the size of Israel (22,100 km²).
At State of Mexico's density, Rio de Janeiro would have 32.6 million people (it has 16.1 million). At Rio de Janeiro's density, State of Mexico would have 8.0 million (it has 16.2 million).
State of Mexico's centre is 41.6° of latitude, about 4,620 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.
State of Mexico is the 25th largest of the 32 states of Mexico and covers 1.1% of its area; it is the 2nd most densely populated of them.
State of Mexico lies about 42° of latitude (roughly 4,620 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 State of Mexico about 1,350 m².
Laid side by side, Rio de Janeiro and State of Mexico would cover 65,800 km², about the same size as Sri Lanka.
Together they have 32.2 million people, about as many people as Madagascar.

Side by side

	Rio de Janeiro	State of Mexico
Is a	StateBrazil	StateMexico
Area, measured	44,000 km²17,000 mi²	21,800 km²8,430 mi²
Official area	43,700 km²Wikidata	22,400 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	24th of 27in Brazil	25th of 32in Mexico
Population	16.1 millionWikidata, 2022	16.2 millionWikidata, 2015
Rank by population	3rd of 27in Brazil	1st of 32in Mexico
Density	365 per km²	742 per km²
Capital	Rio de Janeiro	Toluca de Lerdo
Latitude range	23°S to 21°S	18°N to 20°N

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

Wikidata's official figure of 43,700 km² agrees with our measured area of 44,000 km², to within 2%.
Our measured 21,800 km² is 2.4% below Wikidata's official figure of 22,400 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently.

Similar in size to Rio de Janeiro

Similar in size to State of Mexico

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