Prefecture of Japan
Shiga
滋賀県Shiga is a prefecture of Japan. It covers about 4,010 km² (1,550 mi²), the 37th largest of the 47 prefectures in Natural Earth’s file for Japan, and about the same size as Cape Verde. About 1.4 million people live there (Wikidata, 2021).
50 km
- Shiga
- Cape Verde
Facts
| Area, measured | 4,010 km²1,550 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 4,020 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure |
| Share of Japan | 1.1%of the area of the 47 prefectures |
| Rank by area | 37th of 47prefectures of Japan |
| Population | 1.4 millionWikidata, 2021 |
| Density | 352 people per km² |
| Capital | Otsu |
| Latitude range | 35°N to 36°N |
| Type | PrefectureJP-25 |
What the numbers say about Shiga
- Shiga covers 1.1% of the area of Japan and ranks 26th of 47 by population, against 37th by area.
- It would take 93.2 prefectures the size of Shiga to cover Japan.
- The largest, Hokkaido (Japan), is 19.7× the size of Shiga; the smallest, Kagawa, is 46% of it.
- Closest in size within Japan: Nagasaki (3,990 km², 1.00×) and Ishikawa (4,110 km², 1.03×).
- Counted as a country, Shiga would be larger than 65 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 175th by area, between Trinidad and Tobago (5,120 km²) and Cape Verde (3,930 km²).
- With 1.4 million people it would rank 155th of 238 by population.
- Shiga has 352 people per km², about the density of Japan, which has 331 per km².
- That makes Shiga the 14th most densely populated of the 47 prefectures, 1.04× the average for Japan (338 per km²).
- On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 35°N is drawn about 1.5× too large in area, so Shiga looks bigger there than it is.
- Laid out flat, Shiga stretches about 100 km north to south and 64 km east to west.
- Wikidata's official figure of 4,020 km² agrees with our measured area of 4,010 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.
- ChinaAreaShanghai59% · 6,750 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- United StatesAreaDelaware78% · 5,170 km²PeopleNew Hampshire1.02× · 1.4 million (2020)
- IndiaAreaGoa1.17× · 3,420 km²PeoplePuducherry1.01× · 1.4 million (2011)
- GermanyAreaSaarland1.51× · 2,650 km²PeopleMecklenburg-Western Pomerania90% · 1.6 million (2022)
- FranceAreaRéunion (France)1.55× · 2,580 km²PeopleRéunion (France)1.60× · 881,000 (2022)
- ItalyAreaMolise89% · 4,530 km²PeopleAbruzzo1.08× · 1.3 million (2019)
- SpainAreaBalearic Islands78% · 5,120 km²PeopleAragon1.05× · 1.3 million (2024)
- BrazilAreaFederal District69% · 5,790 km²PeopleTocantins0.93× · 1.5 million (2022)
- CanadaAreaPrince Edward Island70% · 5,730 km²PeopleManitoba1.05× · 1.3 million (2021)
- AustraliaAreaAustralian Capital Territory1.71× · 2,350 km²PeopleSouth Australia75% · 1.9 million (2024)
- MexicoAreaTlaxcala1.04× · 3,870 km²PeopleAguascalientes1.08× · 1.3 million (2015)
- ThailandAreaBueng Kan1.01× · 3,990 km²PeopleSongkhla0.99× · 1.4 million (2020)
Where Shiga sits in Japan
All 47 drawn on one equal-area map, so sizes are comparable. Select another to open it.
Compare Shiga
- Songkhla vs Shiga
- Phang Nga vs Shiga
- Shiga vs Cape Verde
- Trinidad and Tobago vs Shiga
- East Timor vs Shiga
- Shiga vs Luxembourg
- Shiga vs Australian Capital Territory
- Prince Edward Island vs Shiga
- Shanghai vs Shiga
- Federal District vs Shiga
- Delaware vs Shiga
- Shiga vs Goa
- Shiga vs Tlaxcala
- Balearic Islands vs Shiga
- Shiga vs Réunion (France)
- Shiga vs Saarland
- Molise vs Shiga
- Shiga vs Bueng Kan
- Shiga vs Puducherry
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