West Virginia is 1.11× the size of Paraíba

West Virginia (state of the United States) covers about 62,700 km² (24,200 mi²) and Paraíba (state of Brazil) about 56,500 km² (21,800 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

62,700km²West Virginia
56,500km²Paraíba

100 km

West Virginia
Paraíba

What fits

Paraíba is 90% of the size of West Virginia.
West Virginia is larger by 6,220 km² (2,400 mi²), which is 11% of the area of Paraíba.
Measured in Belgiums: West Virginia is about 2.05, Paraíba about 1.84.

How they differ

West Virginia is larger, but Paraíba has the larger population: 4.0 million against 1.8 million, 2.22× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 70 in Paraíba against 29 in West Virginia: Paraíba is 2.46× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 6,800 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: West Virginia at 39°N is drawn about 1.6× too large and Paraíba at 7°S about 1.0×, so the map shows West Virginia as 1.79× the size of Paraíba instead of 1.11×.
Together West Virginia and Paraíba cover 119,000 km², close to the size of Malawi (119,000 km², 0.1% bigger).
The gap between them, 6,220 km², is about the size of Palestine (6,070 km²).
At Paraíba's density, West Virginia would have 4.4 million people (it has 1.8 million). At West Virginia's density, Paraíba would have 1.6 million (it has 4.0 million).
West Virginia's centre is 45.8° of latitude, about 5,090 km, farther north than Paraíba's.
West Virginia is the 41st largest of the 51 states and districts of the United States and covers 0.7% of its area; it is the 30th most densely populated of them.
Paraíba is the 21st largest of the 27 states and districts of Brazil and covers 0.7% of its area; it is the 9th most densely populated of them.
West Virginia lies about 46° of latitude (roughly 5,090 km) north of Paraíba, on the other side of the equator.
Shared out evenly, each person in West Virginia would have about 34,980 m² and each person in Paraíba about 14,220 m².
Laid side by side, West Virginia and Paraíba would cover 119,000 km², about the same size as Malawi.
Together they have 5.8 million people, about as many people as Denmark.

Side by side

	West Virginia	Paraíba
Is a	StateUnited States	StateBrazil
Area, measured	62,700 km²24,200 mi²	56,500 km²21,800 mi²
Official area	62,800 km²Wikidata	56,600 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	41st of 51in the United States	21st of 27in Brazil
Population	1.8 millionWikidata, 2020	4.0 millionWikidata, 2022
Rank by population	39th of 51in the United States	13th of 27in Brazil
Density	29 per km²	70 per km²
Capital	Charleston	João Pessoa
Latitude range	37°N to 41°N	8°S to 6°S

Population: Wikidata 2020 and Wikidata 2022. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 62,800 km² agrees with our measured area of 62,700 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 56,600 km² agrees with our measured area of 56,500 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to West Virginia

Similar in size to Paraíba

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