Turkmenistan is 1.26× the size of Japan

Turkmenistan covers about 471,000 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.

471,000km²Turkmenistan
374,000km²Japan

500 km

Turkmenistan
Japan

What fits

Japan is 79% of the size of Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan is larger by 97,300 km² (37,600 mi²), which is 26% of the area of Japan.
Measured in Belgiums: Turkmenistan is about 15.4, Japan about 12.2.

How they differ

Turkmenistan is larger, but Japan has the larger population: 123.8 million against 6.1 million, 20.2× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 331 in Japan against 13 in Turkmenistan: Japan is 25.5× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 6,600 km apart.
Together Turkmenistan and Japan cover 844,000 km², close to the size of Namibia (823,000 km², 2.6% smaller).
The gap between them, 97,300 km², is about the size of South Korea (98,500 km²).
At Japan's density, Turkmenistan would have 156.1 million people (it has 6.1 million). At Turkmenistan's density, Japan would have 4.9 million (it has 123.8 million).
Turkmenistan's centre is 1.7° of latitude, about 190 km, farther north than Japan's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Turkmenistan	1.26×
More people	Japan	20.2×
More crowded	Japan	25.5×
Farther north	Turkmenistan	1.7° of latitude

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Turkmenistan	Japan
Belgium 30,700 km²	15.4×	12.2×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	1.93×	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

	Turkmenistan	Japan
Area, main territory	471,000 km²182,000 mi²	374,000 km²144,000 mi²
Population	6.1 millionWikidata, 2021	123.8 millionWikidata, 2024
Density	13 per km²	331 per km²
Official area	491,000 km²Wikidata	378,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Ashgabat	Tokyo
Latitude range	35°N to 43°N	24°N to 46°N
Continent	Asia	Asia

Population: Wikidata 2021 and Wikidata 2024, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Our measured 471,000 km² is 4.1% below Wikidata's official figure of 491,000 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently.
Wikidata's official figure of 378,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 374,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Turkmenistan

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