Bulgaria vs Japan

Japan is 3.41 times larger than Bulgaria. Bulgaria would fit into Japan about 3.4 times.

BulgariaJapanBulgaria moved onto Japan · Equal-area projection
0.29×
Bulgaria is 0.29× the area of Japan. Put the other way, Japan is 3.41× the size of Bulgaria.
BulgariaJapan
Area110,994 km²377,972 km²
Population6,433,302123,366,734
Density58 / km²326 / km²
CapitalSofiaTokyo
RegionEastern EuropeEastern Asia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours50

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Bulgaria sits at about 43°N and is stretched to 1.86× its true area; Japan at 37° N is stretched to 1.59×. Here the two are distorted about the same amount, so Mercator gets this pair roughly right. The figure above uses the Equal Earth projection, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.

Questions about this pair

Is Bulgaria bigger than Japan?
No. Bulgaria is 3.41 times smaller than Japan. Bulgaria covers 110,994 km² and Japan covers 377,972 km².
How many times does Bulgaria fit into Japan?
About 3.4 times: Japan has 3.41× the area of Bulgaria.
Why do Bulgaria and Japan look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Bulgaria is drawn about 1.86× its true area there and Japan about 1.59×. For this pair the distortion is similar, so Mercator gets the comparison roughly right. Kartavera uses Equal Earth, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
Which has more people, Bulgaria or Japan?
Japan: 123,366,734 people against 6,433,302. Density: Bulgaria 58 per km², Japan 326 per km².