Somalia is 1.26× the size of Japan

Somalia covers about 472,000 km² (182,000 mi²) and Japan about 374,000 km² (144,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

472,000km²Somalia
374,000km²Japan

500 km

Somalia
Japan

What fits

Japan is 79% of the size of Somalia.
Somalia is larger by 98,300 km² (38,000 mi²), which is 26% of the area of Japan.
Measured in Belgiums: Somalia is about 15.4, Japan about 12.2.

How they differ

Somalia is larger, but Japan has the larger population: 123.8 million against 11.0 million, 11.2× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 331 in Japan against 23 in Somalia: Japan is 14.2× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 9,860 km apart.
On a standard web map Japan looks larger than Somalia: Somalia at 5°N is drawn about 1.0× too large and Japan at 37°N about 1.6×, so the map shows Japan as 1.25× the size of Somalia, when Somalia is 1.26× the size of Japan.
Together Somalia and Japan cover 845,000 km², close to the size of Namibia (823,000 km², 2.7% smaller).
The gap between them, 98,300 km², is about the size of South Korea (98,500 km²).
At Japan's density, Somalia would have 156.4 million people (it has 11.0 million). At Somalia's density, Japan would have 8.7 million (it has 123.8 million).
Japan's centre is 32.7° of latitude, about 3,630 km, farther north than Somalia's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Somalia	1.26×
More people	Japan	11.2×
More crowded	Japan	14.2×
Farther north	Japan	32.7° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Japan	1.6× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Somalia	Japan
Belgium 30,700 km²	15.4×	12.2×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	1.94×	1.53×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.32×	1.04×
France 548,000 km²	0.86×	0.68×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.15×	0.12×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.06×	0.04×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.05×	0.04×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.03×	0.02×

Each figure is the place's area divided by the yardstick's.

Side by side

	Somalia	Japan
Area, main territory	472,000 km²182,000 mi²	374,000 km²144,000 mi²
Population	11.0 millionWikidata, 2017	123.8 millionWikidata, 2024
Density	23 per km²	331 per km²
Official area	638,000 km²Wikidata	378,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Mogadishu	Tokyo
Latitude range	2°S to 12°N	24°N to 46°N
Continent	Africa	Asia

Population: Wikidata 2017 and Wikidata 2024, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Our measured 472,000 km² is 26% below Wikidata's official figure of 638,000 km². The official figure includes Somaliland, which Natural Earth draws as a separate place; together they measure 639,000 km².
Wikidata's official figure of 378,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 374,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Somalia

Similar in size to Japan

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 - Countries, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth. Main territory: the largest landmass and every part within 1,000 km of it.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outlines, shown rounded. Comparisons use main-territory area.
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: 2026-11-11

Full method