Prefecture of Japan

Hokkaido (Japan)

北海道

Hokkaido (Japan) is a prefecture of Japan. It covers about 78,800 km² (30,400 mi²), the largest of the 47 prefectures in Natural Earth’s file for Japan, and about the same size as Czechia. About 5.4 million people live there (Wikidata, 2014).

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.

In area1.00×the size ofCzechia78,800 km² In people1.00×as many people asSlovakia5.4 million

100 km

Hokkaido (Japan)
Czechia

Facts

Area, measured	78,800 km²30,400 mi²
Official area	83,400 km²Wikidata · 5.6% above our measure
Share of Japan	21%of the area of the 47 prefectures
Rank by area	1st of 47prefectures of Japan
Population	5.4 millionWikidata, 2014 · the only figure Wikidata has; most units carry 2021
Density	69 people per km²
Capital	Sapporo
Latitude range	41°N to 46°N
Type	PrefectureJP-01

What the numbers say about Hokkaido (Japan)

Hokkaido (Japan) covers 21% of the area of Japan and ranks 8th of 47 by population, against 1st by area.
It would take 4.74 prefectures the size of Hokkaido (Japan) to cover Japan.
The smallest, Kagawa, is 2.4% of the size of Hokkaido (Japan); the next largest, Iwate, is 20%.
Closest in size within Japan: Iwate (15,500 km², 5.09×) and Fukushima (14,000 km², 5.63×).
Counted as a country, Hokkaido (Japan) would be larger than 124 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 116th by area, between Austria (84,000 km²) and Czechia (78,800 km²).
With 5.4 million people it would rank 118th of 238 by population.
Hokkaido (Japan) has 69 people per km², about the density of Equatorial Guinea, which has 69 per km².
That makes Hokkaido (Japan) the 47th most densely populated of the 47 prefectures, 20% of the average for Japan (338 per km²).
Hokkaido (Japan) has 94.8× the room per person of Tokyo, the most crowded of the 47: 69 against 6,534 people per km².
Wikidata holds no 2021 figure for Hokkaido (Japan); the 2014 figure is the only one it has, so Hokkaido (Japan) is not counted the same way as the 38 prefectures that carry 2021.
On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 43°N is drawn about 1.9× too large in area, so Hokkaido (Japan) looks bigger there than it is.
Laid out flat, Hokkaido (Japan) stretches about 455 km north to south and 523 km east to west.
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.
Wikidata holds two areas for Hokkaido (Japan): 83,400 km², Japan’s own figure, which includes the Northern Territories, islands off its east coast that Russia administers and Japan claims, and 78,400 km², which does not. The outline here measures 78,800 km², within 0.5% of the second.

About the same size as

About as many people 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.

Compare Hokkaido (Japan)

Sources and method

Outline: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth. Part of this boundary is disputed; Size Versus takes no position on it.
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, 2014. Japan’s units share the 2021 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

Full method

Hokkaido (Japan)

Facts

What the numbers say about Hokkaido (Japan)

About the same size as

About as many people as

Beside the regions of other countries

Where Hokkaido (Japan) sits in Japan

Ranked within Japan

Compare Hokkaido (Japan)

Hokkaido (Japan)

Facts

What the numbers say about Hokkaido (Japan)

About the same size as

About as many people as

Beside the regions of other countries

Where Hokkaido (Japan) sits in Japan

Ranked within Japan

Compare Hokkaido (Japan)

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