Sardinia (Italy) is 1.56× the size of Iwate

Sardinia (Italy) (region of Italy) covers about 24,100 km² (9,310 mi²) and Iwate (prefecture of Japan) about 15,500 km² (5,970 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

24,100km²Sardinia (Italy)
15,500km²Iwate

50 km

Sardinia (Italy)
Iwate

What fits

Iwate is 64% of the size of Sardinia (Italy).
Sardinia (Italy) is larger by 8,640 km² (3,340 mi²), which is 56% of the area of Iwate.
Measured in Belgiums: Sardinia (Italy) is about 0.79, Iwate about 0.50.

How they differ

Sardinia (Italy) also has the larger population: 1.6 million against 1.2 million, 1.35× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 78 in Iwate against 68 in Sardinia (Italy): Iwate is 1.15× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 9,920 km apart.
Together Sardinia (Italy) and Iwate cover 39,600 km², close to the size of Bhutan (40,400 km², 2.1% bigger).
The gap between them, 8,640 km², is about the size of Lebanon (10,000 km²).
At Iwate's density, Sardinia (Italy) would have 1.9 million people (it has 1.6 million). At Sardinia (Italy)'s density, Iwate would have 1.0 million (it has 1.2 million).
Their centres lie at almost the same latitude.
Sardinia (Italy) is the 3rd largest of the 20 regions of Italy and covers 8.0% of its area; it is the 17th most densely populated of them.
Iwate is the 2nd largest of the 47 prefectures of Japan and covers 4.1% of its area; it is the 46th most densely populated of them.
Both lie at about the same latitude, 40°N and 40°N.
Shared out evenly, each person in Sardinia (Italy) would have about 14,810 m² and each person in Iwate about 12,830 m².
Laid side by side, Sardinia (Italy) and Iwate would cover 39,600 km², about the same size as Bhutan.
Together they have 2.8 million people, about as many people as Albania.

Side by side

	Sardinia (Italy)	Iwate
Is a	RegionItaly	PrefectureJapan
Area, measured	24,100 km²9,310 mi²	15,500 km²5,970 mi²
Official area	23,900 km²Wikidata	15,300 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	3rd of 20in Italy	2nd of 47in Japan
Population	1.6 millionWikidata, 2020	1.2 millionWikidata, 2021
Rank by population	11th of 20in Italy	32nd of 47in Japan
Density	68 per km²	78 per km²
Capital	Cagliari	Morioka
Latitude range	39°N to 41°N	39°N to 40°N

Population: Wikidata 2020 and Wikidata 2021. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 23,900 km² agrees with our measured area of 24,100 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 15,300 km² agrees with our measured area of 15,500 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Sardinia (Italy)

Similar in size to Iwate

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain. The outline of Sardinia (Italy) is the provinces Natural Earth draws there, joined along their shared borders.
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