West Virginia is 1.19× the size of Rio Grande do Norte

West Virginia (state of the United States) covers about 62,700 km² (24,200 mi²) and Rio Grande do Norte (state of Brazil) about 52,800 km² (20,400 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

62,700km²West Virginia
52,800km²Rio Grande do Norte

200 km

West Virginia
Rio Grande do Norte

What fits

Rio Grande do Norte is 84% of the size of West Virginia.
West Virginia is larger by 9,920 km² (3,830 mi²), which is 19% of the area of Rio Grande do Norte.
Measured in Belgiums: West Virginia is about 2.05, Rio Grande do Norte about 1.72.

How they differ

West Virginia is larger, but Rio Grande do Norte has the larger population: 3.3 million against 1.8 million, 1.84× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 63 in Rio Grande do Norte against 29 in West Virginia: Rio Grande do Norte is 2.19× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 6,700 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: West Virginia at 39°N is drawn about 1.6× too large and Rio Grande do Norte at 6°S about 1.0×, so the map shows West Virginia as 1.93× the size of Rio Grande do Norte instead of 1.19×.
Together West Virginia and Rio Grande do Norte cover 116,000 km², close to the size of Benin (116,000 km², 0.5% bigger).
The gap between them, 9,920 km², is about the size of Lebanon (10,000 km²).
At Rio Grande do Norte's density, West Virginia would have 3.9 million people (it has 1.8 million). At West Virginia's density, Rio Grande do Norte would have 1.5 million (it has 3.3 million).
West Virginia's centre is 44.5° of latitude, about 4,950 km, farther north than Rio Grande do Norte'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.
Rio Grande do Norte is the 22nd largest of the 27 states and districts of Brazil and covers 0.6% of its area; it is the 10th most densely populated of them.
West Virginia lies about 44° of latitude (roughly 4,950 km) north of Rio Grande do Norte, 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 Rio Grande do Norte about 15,990 m².
Laid side by side, West Virginia and Rio Grande do Norte would cover 116,000 km², about the same size as Benin.
Together they have 5.1 million people, about as many people as Nicaragua.

Side by side

	West Virginia	Rio Grande do Norte
Is a	StateUnited States	StateBrazil
Area, measured	62,700 km²24,200 mi²	52,800 km²20,400 mi²
Official area	62,800 km²Wikidata	53,300 km²Wikidata
Rank by area	41st of 51in the United States	22nd of 27in Brazil
Population	1.8 millionWikidata, 2020	3.3 millionWikidata, 2022
Rank by population	39th of 51in the United States	17th of 27in Brazil
Density	29 per km²	63 per km²
Capital	Charleston	Natal
Latitude range	37°N to 41°N	7°S to 1°N

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 53,300 km² agrees with our measured area of 52,800 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to West Virginia

Similar in size to Rio Grande do Norte

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