Rio Grande do Norte is 1.24× the size of Denmark

Rio Grande do Norte (state of Brazil) covers about 52,800 km² (20,400 mi²) and Denmark (Europe) about 42,700 km² (16,500 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

52,800km²Rio Grande do Norte
42,700km²Denmark

200 km

Rio Grande do Norte
Denmark

What fits

Denmark is 81% of the size of Rio Grande do Norte.
Rio Grande do Norte is larger by 10,100 km² (3,910 mi²), which is 24% of the area of Denmark.
Measured in Belgiums: Rio Grande do Norte is about 1.72, Denmark about 1.39.

How they differ

Rio Grande do Norte is larger, but Denmark has the larger population: 5.8 million against 3.3 million, 1.76× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 136 in Denmark against 63 in Rio Grande do Norte: Denmark is 2.18× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 8,080 km apart.
On a standard web map Denmark looks larger than Rio Grande do Norte: Rio Grande do Norte at 6°S is drawn about 1.0× too large and Denmark at 56°N about 3.2×, so the map shows Denmark as 2.55× the size of Rio Grande do Norte, when Rio Grande do Norte is 1.24× the size of Denmark.
Together Rio Grande do Norte and Denmark cover 95,500 km², close to the size of Liberia (95,300 km², 0.2% smaller).
The gap between them, 10,100 km², is about the size of Lebanon (10,000 km²).
At Denmark's density, Rio Grande do Norte would have 7.2 million people (it has 3.3 million). At Rio Grande do Norte's density, Denmark would have 2.7 million (it has 5.8 million).
Denmark's centre is 61.8° of latitude, about 6,870 km, farther north than Rio Grande do Norte's.
Rio Grande do Norte is the 22nd largest of the 27 states and districts of Brazil and covers 0.6% of its area; it is the 10th most densely populated of them.
Denmark ranks 134th of 246 countries and territories by area.
Denmark lies about 62° of latitude (roughly 6,870 km) north of Rio Grande do Norte, on the other side of the equator.
Shared out evenly, each person in Rio Grande do Norte would have about 15,990 m² and each person in Denmark about 7,330 m².
Laid side by side, Rio Grande do Norte and Denmark would cover 95,500 km², about the same size as Liberia.
Together they have 9.1 million people, about as many people as Switzerland.
Counted as a country, Rio Grande do Norte would rank 128th by area and 136th by population.

Side by side

	Rio Grande do Norte	Denmark
Is a	StateBrazil	CountryEurope
Area, measured	52,800 km²20,400 mi²	42,700 km²16,500 mi²
Official area	53,300 km²Wikidata	42,900 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	22nd of 27in Brazil	133rd of 239worldwide
Population	3.3 millionWikidata, 2022	5.8 millionWikidata, 2020
Rank by population	17th of 27in Brazil	115th of 237worldwide
Density	63 per km²	136 per km²
Capital	Natal	Copenhagen
Latitude range	7°S to 1°N	55°N to 58°N

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

Wikidata's official figure of 53,300 km² agrees with our measured area of 52,800 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 Grande do Norte

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