State of Germany
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a state of Germany. It covers about 47,600 km² (18,400 mi²), the 2nd largest of the 16 states in Natural Earth’s file for Germany, and about the same size as Dominican Republic. About 7.9 million people live there (Wikidata, 2022).
100 km
- Dominican Republic
- Lower Saxony
Facts
| Area, measured | 47,600 km²18,400 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 47,600 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure |
| Share of Germany | 13%of the area of the 16 states |
| Rank by area | 2nd of 16states of Germany |
| Population | 7.9 millionWikidata, 2022 · the census year of every unit |
| Density | 167 people per km² |
| Capital | Hanover |
| Latitude range | 51°N to 54°N |
| Type | StateDE-NI |
What the numbers say about Lower Saxony
- Lower Saxony covers 13% of the area of Germany and ranks 4th of 16 by population, against 2nd by area.
- It would take 7.51 states the size of Lower Saxony to cover Germany.
- Lower Saxony holds 9.6% of the 83.0 million people that Wikidata’s 2022 figures give for the 16 states together: about 1 in 10.
- The largest, Bavaria, is 1.47× the size of Lower Saxony; the smallest, Bremen, is 0.8% of it.
- Closest in size within Germany: Baden-Württemberg (36,100 km², 1.32×) and North Rhine-Westphalia (34,500 km², 1.38×).
- Counted as a country, Lower Saxony would be larger than 108 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 132nd by area, between Dominican Republic (48,400 km²) and Estonia (45,800 km²).
- With 7.9 million people it would rank 101st of 238 by population.
- Lower Saxony has 167 people per km², about the density of Guatemala, which has 159 per km².
- That makes Lower Saxony the 12th most densely populated of the 16 states, 72% of the average for Germany (232 per km²).
- On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 53°N is drawn about 2.7× too large in area, so Lower Saxony looks bigger there than it is.
- Laid out flat, Lower Saxony stretches about 289 km north to south and 330 km east to west.
- Wikidata's official figure of 47,600 km² agrees with our measured area of 47,600 km², to within 2%.
About the same size as
Beside the regions of other countries
The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.
- ChinaAreaNingxia0.91× · 52,100 km²PeopleNingxia1.10× · 7.2 million (2020)
- United StatesAreaWest Virginia76% · 62,700 km²PeopleWashington State1.03× · 7.7 million (2020)
- IndiaAreaPunjab0.94× · 50,400 km²PeopleHimachal Pradesh1.16× · 6.9 million (2011)
- FranceAreaBourgogne-Franche-Comté0.99× · 48,000 km²PeopleAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes0.97× · 8.2 million (2022)
- ItalyAreaSicily (Italy)1.84× · 25,900 km²PeopleLombardy79% · 10.1 million (2019)
- SpainAreaAragon1.00× · 47,600 km²PeopleCatalonia0.99× · 8.0 million (2024)
- JapanAreaHokkaido (Japan)60% · 78,800 km²PeopleAichi1.06× · 7.5 million (2021)
- BrazilAreaEspírito Santo1.04× · 45,800 km²PeoplePará0.98× · 8.1 million (2022)
- CanadaAreaNova Scotia86% · 55,100 km²PeopleQuebec0.93× · 8.5 million (2021)
- AustraliaAreaTasmania (Australia)70% · 68,100 km²PeopleNew South Wales0.93× · 8.5 million (2024)
- MexicoAreaQuintana Roo1.08× · 43,900 km²PeopleJalisco1.01× · 7.8 million (2015)
- ThailandAreanone within 2×PeopleBangkok1.40× · 5.7 million (2018)
Where Lower Saxony sits in Germany
All 16 drawn on one equal-area map, so sizes are comparable. Select another to open it.
Compare Lower Saxony
- Jalisco vs Lower Saxony
- Sinaloa vs Lower Saxony
- Grand Est vs Lower Saxony
- Campeche vs Lower Saxony
- Paraíba vs Lower Saxony
- Himachal Pradesh vs Lower Saxony
- Nova Scotia vs Lower Saxony
- Rio Grande do Norte vs Lower Saxony
- Uttarakhand vs Lower Saxony
- Ningxia vs Lower Saxony
- Punjab vs Lower Saxony
- Bourgogne-Franche-Comté vs Lower Saxony
- Aragon vs Lower Saxony
- Dominican Republic vs Lower Saxony
- Slovakia vs Lower Saxony
- Lower Saxony vs Denmark
- Lower Saxony vs Switzerland
- Togo vs Lower Saxony
- Austria vs Lower Saxony
- Tasmania (Australia) vs Lower Saxony
- Lower Saxony vs Espírito Santo
- West Virginia vs Lower Saxony
- Lower Saxony vs Quintana Roo
- Hokkaido (Japan) vs Lower Saxony
- Lower Saxony vs Sicily (Italy)
- Lower Saxony vs Catalonia
- Lower Saxony vs Rio de Janeiro
- Lower Saxony vs Haryana
- Lower Saxony vs Jammu and Kashmir
- Lower Saxony vs Extremadura
Share this outline
Sources and method
- Outline
- Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
- Boundary
- De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
- Area
- Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
- Official figures
- Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
- Population
- Wikidata, 2022. Germany’s units share the 2022 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
- Matching
- Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
- Data built
- 2026-11-12