State of the United States
Iowa
Iowa is a state of the United States. It covers about 145,000 km² (56,200 mi²), the 26th largest of the 51 states and districts in Natural Earth’s file for the United States, and about the same size as Suriname. About 3.2 million people live there (Wikidata, 2020).
100 km
- Iowa
- Suriname
Facts
| Area, measured | 145,000 km²56,200 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 146,000 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure |
| Share of the United States | 1.5%of the area of the 51 states and districts |
| Rank by area | 26th of 51states and districts of the United States |
| Population | 3.2 millionWikidata, 2020 · the census year of every unit |
| Density | 22 people per km² |
| Capital | Des Moines |
| Latitude range | 40°N to 44°N |
| Type | StateUS-IA |
What the numbers say about Iowa
- Iowa covers 1.5% of the area of the United States and ranks 31st of 51 by population, against 26th by area.
- It would take 65.1 states and districts the size of Iowa to cover the United States.
- Iowa holds 1.0% of the 331.4 million people that Wikidata’s 2020 figures give for the 51 states and districts together: about 1 in 104.
- The largest, Alaska, is 10.3× the size of Iowa; the smallest, Washington, D.C., is 0.1% of it.
- Closest in size within the United States: Florida (147,000 km², 1.01×) and Illinois (150,000 km², 1.03×).
- Counted as a country, Iowa would be larger than 146 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 94th by area, between Nepal (147,000 km²) and Suriname (145,000 km²).
- With 3.2 million people it would rank 137th of 238 by population.
- Iowa has 22 people per km², about the density of Sudan, which has 22 per km².
- That makes Iowa the 35th most densely populated of the 51 states and districts, 63% of the average for the United States (35 per km²).
- On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 42°N is drawn about 1.8× too large in area, so Iowa looks bigger there than it is.
- Laid out flat, Iowa stretches about 349 km north to south and 534 km east to west.
- Wikidata's official figure of 146,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 145,000 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.
- ChinaAreaLiaoning0.99× · 147,000 km²PeopleTibet87% · 3.6 million (2020)
- IndiaAreaOdisha0.94× · 155,000 km²PeopleMeghalaya1.08× · 3.0 million (2011)
- GermanyAreanone within 2×PeopleSchleswig-Holstein1.08× · 3.0 million (2022)
- FranceAreaNouvelle-Aquitaine1.71× · 85,000 km²PeopleNormandy0.96× · 3.3 million (2022)
- ItalyAreanone within 2×PeopleTuscany86% · 3.7 million (2019)
- SpainAreaCastile and León1.53× · 94,800 km²PeopleGalicia1.18× · 2.7 million (2024)
- JapanAreaHokkaido (Japan)1.85× · 78,800 km²PeopleIbaraki1.11× · 2.9 million (2021)
- BrazilAreaCeará0.97× · 150,000 km²PeopleAlagoas1.02× · 3.1 million (2022)
- CanadaAreaNew Brunswick2.00× · 72,800 km²PeopleAlberta75% · 4.3 million (2021)
- AustraliaAreaVictoria64% · 228,000 km²PeopleWestern Australia1.06× · 3.0 million (2024)
- MexicoAreaCoahuila0.96× · 151,000 km²PeopleBaja California0.96× · 3.3 million (2015)
- ThailandAreanone within 2×PeopleNakhon Ratchasima1.21× · 2.6 million (2020)
Where Iowa ranks
Iowa is the 26th largest of the 51 states and districts of the United States.
Compare Iowa
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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, 2020. United States’s units share the 2020 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