Shandong is 1.98× the size of Hokkaido (Japan)

Shandong (province of China) covers about 156,000 km² (60,200 mi²) and Hokkaido (Japan) (prefecture of Japan) about 78,800 km² (30,400 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

156,000km²Shandong
78,800km²Hokkaido (Japan)

200 km

Shandong
Hokkaido (Japan)

Hokkaido (Japan): Part of this region's boundary is disputed with Russia. Size Versus draws Natural Earth's de facto outline, the boundary as it is held on the ground, and takes no position on it.

What fits

Hokkaido (Japan) is 51% of the size of Shandong.
Shandong is larger by 77,100 km² (29,800 mi²), which is 98% of the area of Hokkaido (Japan).
Measured in Belgiums: Shandong is about 5.08, Hokkaido (Japan) about 2.57.

How they differ

Shandong also has the larger population: 101.5 million against 5.4 million, 18.7× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 651 in Shandong against 69 in Hokkaido (Japan): Shandong is 9.44× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 2,220 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Shandong at 36°N is drawn about 1.5× too large and Hokkaido (Japan) at 43°N about 1.9×, so the map shows Shandong as 1.61× the size of Hokkaido (Japan) instead of 1.98×.
Together Shandong and Hokkaido (Japan) cover 235,000 km², close to the size of Romania (236,000 km², 0.7% bigger).
The gap between them, 77,100 km², is about the size of Serbia (77,600 km²).
At Hokkaido (Japan)'s density, Shandong would have 10.8 million people (it has 101.5 million). At Shandong's density, Hokkaido (Japan) would have 51.3 million (it has 5.4 million).
Hokkaido (Japan)'s centre is 7.0° of latitude, about 780 km, farther north than Shandong's.
Shandong is the 20th largest of the 31 provinces and regions of China and covers 1.7% of its area; it is the 6th most densely populated of them.
Hokkaido (Japan) is the largest of the 47 prefectures of Japan and covers 21% of its area; it is the 47th most densely populated of them.
Hokkaido (Japan) lies about 7° of latitude (roughly 781 km) north of Shandong.
Shared out evenly, each person in Shandong would have about 1,540 m² and each person in Hokkaido (Japan) about 14,500 m².
Laid side by side, Shandong and Hokkaido (Japan) would cover 235,000 km², about the same size as Romania.
Together they have 107.0 million people, about as many people as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Side by side

	Shandong	Hokkaido (Japan)
Is a	ProvinceChina	PrefectureJapan
Area, measured	156,000 km²60,200 mi²	78,800 km²30,400 mi²
Official area	157,000 km²Wikidata	83,400 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	20th of 31in China	1st of 47in Japan
Population	101.5 millionWikidata, 2020	5.4 millionWikidata, 2014
Rank by population	2nd of 31in China	8th of 47in Japan
Density	651 per km²	69 per km²
Capital	Jinan	Sapporo
Latitude range	34°N to 38°N	41°N to 46°N

Population: Wikidata 2020 and Wikidata 2014. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 157,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 156,000 km², to within 2%.
Our measured 78,800 km² is 5.6% below Wikidata's official figure of 83,400 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently. This difference is flagged for review.

Similar in size to Shandong

Similar in size to Hokkaido (Japan)

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