Rio Grande do Norte is 1.05× the size of Punjab

Rio Grande do Norte (state of Brazil) covers about 52,800 km² (20,400 mi²) and Punjab (state of India) about 50,400 km² (19,500 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

52,800km²Rio Grande do Norte
50,400km²Punjab

200 km

Rio Grande do Norte
Punjab

What fits

Punjab is 95% of the size of Rio Grande do Norte.
Rio Grande do Norte is larger by 2,430 km² (940 mi²), which is 4.8% of the area of Punjab.
Measured in Belgiums: Rio Grande do Norte is about 1.72, Punjab about 1.64.

How they differ

Rio Grande do Norte is larger, but Punjab has the larger population: 27.7 million against 3.3 million, 8.40× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 551 in Punjab against 63 in Rio Grande do Norte: Punjab is 8.81× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 12,400 km apart.
On a standard web map Punjab looks larger than Rio Grande do Norte: Rio Grande do Norte at 6°S is drawn about 1.0× too large and Punjab at 31°N about 1.4×, so the map shows Punjab as 1.28× the size of Rio Grande do Norte, when Rio Grande do Norte is 1.05× the size of Punjab.
Together Rio Grande do Norte and Punjab cover 103,000 km², close to the size of Iceland (102,000 km², 0.8% smaller).
The gap between them, 2,430 km², is about the size of Luxembourg (2,610 km²).
At Punjab's density, Rio Grande do Norte would have 29.1 million people (it has 3.3 million). At Rio Grande do Norte's density, Punjab would have 3.2 million (it has 27.7 million).
Punjab's centre is 36.7° of latitude, about 4,080 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.
Punjab is the 20th largest of the 36 states and union territories of India and covers 1.6% of its area; it is the 12th most densely populated of them.
Punjab lies about 37° of latitude (roughly 4,080 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 Punjab about 1,820 m².
Laid side by side, Rio Grande do Norte and Punjab would cover 103,000 km², about the same size as Iceland.
Together they have 31.0 million people, about as many people as Ivory Coast.

Side by side

	Rio Grande do Norte	Punjab
Is a	StateBrazil	StateIndia
Area, measured	52,800 km²20,400 mi²	50,400 km²19,500 mi²
Official area	53,300 km²Wikidata	50,400 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	22nd of 27in Brazil	20th of 36in India
Population	3.3 millionWikidata, 2022	27.7 millionWikidata, 2011
Rank by population	17th of 27in Brazil	17th of 36in India
Density	63 per km²	551 per km²
Capital	Natal	Chandigarh
Latitude range	7°S to 1°N	30°N to 33°N

Population: Wikidata 2022 and Wikidata 2011. 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 50,400 km² agrees with our measured area of 50,400 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Rio Grande do Norte

Similar in size to Punjab

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