Shanxi is 1.98× the size of Hokkaido (Japan)

Shanxi (province of China) covers about 156,000 km² (60,300 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.

156,000km²Shanxi
78,800km²Hokkaido (Japan)

100 km

Shanxi
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 50% of the size of Shanxi.
Shanxi is larger by 77,300 km² (29,900 mi²), which is 98% of the area of Hokkaido (Japan).
Measured in Belgiums: Shanxi is about 5.09, Hokkaido (Japan) about 2.57.

How they differ

Shanxi also has the larger population: 34.9 million against 5.4 million, 6.43× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 224 in Shanxi against 69 in Hokkaido (Japan): Shanxi is 3.24× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 2,630 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Shanxi at 38°N is drawn about 1.6× too large and Hokkaido (Japan) at 43°N about 1.9×, so the map shows Shanxi as 1.66× the size of Hokkaido (Japan) instead of 1.98×.
Together Shanxi and Hokkaido (Japan) cover 235,000 km², close to the size of Romania (236,000 km², 0.6% bigger).
The gap between them, 77,300 km², is about the size of Serbia (77,600 km²).
At Hokkaido (Japan)'s density, Shanxi would have 10.8 million people (it has 34.9 million). At Shanxi's density, Hokkaido (Japan) would have 17.6 million (it has 5.4 million).
Hokkaido (Japan)'s centre is 5.8° of latitude, about 650 km, farther north than Shanxi's.
Shanxi is the 19th largest of the 31 provinces and regions of China and covers 1.7% of its area; it is the 18th 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 6° of latitude (roughly 649 km) north of Shanxi.
Shared out evenly, each person in Shanxi would have about 4,470 m² and each person in Hokkaido (Japan) about 14,500 m².
Laid side by side, Shanxi and Hokkaido (Japan) would cover 235,000 km², about the same size as Romania.
Together they have 40.3 million people, about as many people as Sudan.

Side by side

	Shanxi	Hokkaido (Japan)
Is a	ProvinceChina	PrefectureJapan
Area, measured	156,000 km²60,300 mi²	78,800 km²30,400 mi²
Official area	156,000 km²Wikidata	83,400 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	19th of 31in China	1st of 47in Japan
Population	34.9 millionWikidata, 2020	5.4 millionWikidata, 2014
Rank by population	18th of 31in China	8th of 47in Japan
Density	224 per km²	69 per km²
Capital	Taiyuan	Sapporo
Latitude range	35°N to 41°N	41°N to 46°N

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

Wikidata's official figure of 156,000 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 Shanxi

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