Tennessee is 1.39× the size of Hokkaido (Japan)

Tennessee (state of the United States) covers about 109,000 km² (42,200 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.

109,000km²Tennessee
78,800km²Hokkaido (Japan)

200 km

Tennessee
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 72% of the size of Tennessee.
Tennessee is larger by 30,500 km² (11,800 mi²), which is 39% of the area of Hokkaido (Japan).
Measured in Belgiums: Tennessee is about 3.56, Hokkaido (Japan) about 2.57.

How they differ

Tennessee also has the larger population: 6.9 million against 5.4 million, 1.27× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 69 in Hokkaido (Japan) against 63 in Tennessee: Hokkaido (Japan) is 1.09× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 9,910 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Tennessee at 36°N is drawn about 1.5× too large and Hokkaido (Japan) at 43°N about 1.9×, so the map shows Tennessee as 1.12× the size of Hokkaido (Japan) instead of 1.39×.
Together Tennessee and Hokkaido (Japan) cover 188,000 km², close to the size of Syria (186,000 km², 1.1% smaller).
The gap between them, 30,500 km², is about the size of Belgium (30,700 km²).
At Hokkaido (Japan)'s density, Tennessee would have 7.5 million people (it has 6.9 million). At Tennessee's density, Hokkaido (Japan) would have 5.0 million (it has 5.4 million).
Hokkaido (Japan)'s centre is 7.5° of latitude, about 840 km, farther north than Tennessee's.
Tennessee is the 35th largest of the 51 states and districts of the United States and covers 1.2% of its area; it is the 20th 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 8° of latitude (roughly 836 km) north of Tennessee.
Shared out evenly, each person in Tennessee would have about 15,820 m² and each person in Hokkaido (Japan) about 14,500 m².
Laid side by side, Tennessee and Hokkaido (Japan) would cover 188,000 km², about the same size as Syria.
Together they have 12.3 million people, about as many people as Bolivia.

Side by side

	Tennessee	Hokkaido (Japan)
Is a	StateUnited States	PrefectureJapan
Area, measured	109,000 km²42,200 mi²	78,800 km²30,400 mi²
Official area	109,000 km²Wikidata	83,400 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	35th of 51in the United States	1st of 47in Japan
Population	6.9 millionWikidata, 2020	5.4 millionWikidata, 2014
Rank by population	16th of 51in the United States	8th of 47in Japan
Density	63 per km²	69 per km²
Capital	Nashville	Sapporo
Latitude range	35°N to 37°N	41°N to 46°N

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

Wikidata's official figure of 109,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 109,000 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 Tennessee

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