Prefecture of Japan
Iwate
岩手県Iwate is a prefecture of Japan. It covers about 15,500 km² (5,970 mi²), the 2nd largest of the 47 prefectures in Natural Earth’s file for Japan, and about the same size as East Timor. About 1.2 million people live there (Wikidata, 2021).
100 km
- Iwate
- East Timor
Facts
| Area, measured | 15,500 km²5,970 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 15,300 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure |
| Share of Japan | 4.1%of the area of the 47 prefectures |
| Rank by area | 2nd of 47prefectures of Japan |
| Population | 1.2 millionWikidata, 2021 |
| Density | 78 people per km² |
| Capital | Morioka |
| Latitude range | 39°N to 40°N |
| Type | PrefectureJP-03 |
What the numbers say about Iwate
- Iwate covers 4.1% of the area of Japan and ranks 32nd of 47 by population, against 2nd by area.
- It would take 24.1 prefectures the size of Iwate to cover Japan.
- The largest, Hokkaido (Japan), is 5.09× the size of Iwate; the smallest, Kagawa, is 12% of it.
- Closest in size within Japan: Fukushima (14,000 km², 1.11×) and Nagano (13,700 km², 1.13×).
- Counted as a country, Iwate would be larger than 81 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 159th by area, between Eswatini (17,100 km²) and East Timor (15,100 km²).
- With 1.2 million people it would rank 161st of 238 by population.
- Iwate has 78 people per km², about the density of Uzbekistan, which has 78 per km².
- That makes Iwate the 46th most densely populated of the 47 prefectures, 23% of the average for Japan (338 per km²).
- On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 40°N is drawn about 1.7× too large in area, so Iwate looks bigger there than it is.
- Laid out flat, Iwate stretches about 189 km north to south and 121 km east to west.
- Wikidata's official figure of 15,300 km² agrees with our measured area of 15,500 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.
- ChinaAreaBeijing0.95× · 16,300 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- United StatesAreaHawaii0.92× · 16,800 km²PeopleRhode Island1.10× · 1.1 million (2020)
- IndiaAreaNagaland0.95× · 16,300 km²PeopleMizoram1.10× · 1.1 million (2011)
- GermanyAreaSchleswig-Holstein1.00× · 15,400 km²PeopleSaarland1.20× · 1.0 million (2022)
- FranceAreaÎle-de-France1.28× · 12,100 km²PeopleRéunion (France)1.37× · 881,000 (2022)
- ItalyAreaCalabria1.02× · 15,100 km²PeopleFriuli-Venezia Giulia0.99× · 1.2 million (2019)
- SpainAreaMurcia1.37× · 11,300 km²PeopleBalearic Islands1.02× · 1.2 million (2022)
- BrazilAreaSergipe72% · 21,600 km²PeopleTocantins80% · 1.5 million (2022)
- CanadaAreanone within 2×PeopleSaskatchewan1.06× · 1.1 million (2021)
- AustraliaAreanone within 2×PeopleSouth Australia64% · 1.9 million (2024)
- MexicoAreaQuerétaro1.32× · 11,700 km²PeopleNayarit0.99× · 1.2 million (2015)
- ThailandAreaTak0.94× · 16,400 km²PeoplePathum Thani1.02× · 1.2 million (2020)
Where Iwate sits in Japan
All 47 drawn on one equal-area map, so sizes are comparable. Select another to open it.
Compare Iwate
- Guanajuato vs Iwate
- Normandy vs Iwate
- Brandenburg vs Iwate
- Galicia vs Iwate
- Alagoas vs Iwate
- Brittany vs Iwate
- Nayarit vs Iwate
- Sicily (Italy) vs Iwate
- Piedmont vs Iwate
- Maryland vs Iwate
- Vermont vs Iwate
- New Hampshire vs Iwate
- Sardinia (Italy) vs Iwate
- Tabasco vs Iwate
- Lombardy vs Iwate
- Valencian Community vs Iwate
- Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania vs Iwate
- Meghalaya vs Iwate
- Tuscany vs Iwate
- Chiang Mai vs Iwate
- Emilia-Romagna vs Iwate
- State of Mexico vs Iwate
- Manipur vs Iwate
- Sergipe vs Iwate
- Hidalgo vs Iwate
- Mizoram vs Iwate
- Massachusetts vs Iwate
- Hesse vs Iwate
- Nakhon Ratchasima vs Iwate
- Saxony-Anhalt vs Iwate
- Rhineland-Palatinate vs Iwate
- Kanchanaburi vs Iwate
- New Jersey vs Iwate
- Apulia vs Iwate
- Saxony vs Iwate
- Veneto vs Iwate
- Lazio vs Iwate
- Hawaii vs Iwate
- Tak vs Iwate
- Nagaland vs Iwate
- Beijing vs Iwate
- Thuringia vs Iwate
- Iwate vs East Timor
- Eswatini vs Iwate
- Belgium vs Iwate
- Netherlands vs Iwate
- Iwate vs Montenegro
- Iwate vs Querétaro
- Iwate vs Murcia
- Iwate vs Île-de-France
- Iwate vs Schleswig-Holstein
- Iwate vs Calabria
- Iwate vs Friuli-Venezia Giulia
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, 2021. 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