Canada vs North Korea
Canada is 82.8 times larger than North Korea. North Korea would fit into Canada about 83 times.
CanadaNorth KoreaCanada moved onto North Korea · Equal-area projection
82.8×
Canada is 82.8× the area of North Korea.
 Canada |  North Korea | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| AreaCanada: 82.8× the area | 9,984,670 km²#2 of 194 | 120,540 km²#96 of 194 |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Land neighbours | 1 | 3 |
| People | ||
| PopulationCanada: 1.57× the population | 41,651,653#38 of 194 · 2025 | 26,571,036#56 of 194 · 2025 |
| DensityNorth Korea: 52.8× the density | 4.2 / km²#188 of 194 | 220 / km²#45 of 194 |
| Urban populationCanada: 1.29× the urban share | 83%#36 of 192 · 2025 | 64%#91 of 192 · 2025 |
| Fertility rateNorth Korea: 1.42× the births per woman | 1.25 per woman#171 of 192 · 2024 | 1.78 per woman#110 of 192 · 2024 |
| Population growthCanada: 0.67 points higher | +0.94%#100 of 192 · 2025 | +0.27%#145 of 192 · 2025 |
| Birth rateNorth Korea: 1.45× the birth rate | 8.9 per 1,000#157 of 192 · 2024 | 12.9 per 1,000#106 of 192 · 2024 |
| Death rateNorth Korea: 1.25× the death rate | 7.9 per 1,000#72 of 192 · 2024 | 9.9 per 1,000#37 of 192 · 2024 |
| Children under 15North Korea: 3.9 points higher | 15.0%#162 of 192 · 2025 | 18.9%#122 of 192 · 2025 |
| People over 65Canada: 7.6 points higher | 20.3%#30 of 192 · 2025 | 12.7%#64 of 192 · 2025 |
| Net migrationCanada: 7.9 per 1,000 higher | +7.8 per 1,000#11 of 192 · 2025 | −0.1 per 1,000#78 of 192 · 2025 |
| Refugees abroadAbout as many refugees for its size | 0.01 per 1,000#155 of 190 · 2025 | 0.01 per 1,000#155 of 190 · 2025 |
| Health & education | ||
| Life expectancyCanada: 8.4 years longer | 82.1 years#28 of 192 · 2024 | 73.7 years#98 of 192 · 2024 |
| Infant mortalityNorth Korea: 2.83× the infant mortality | 4.7 per 1,000 births#144 of 191 · 2024 | 13.3 per 1,000 births#92 of 191 · 2024 |
| Doctors | 2.82 per 1,000#65 of 178 · 2023 | — |
| University enrolment | 76.3%#36 of 145 · 2023 | — |
| Human Development Index | 0.939#15 of 190 · 2023 | — |
| Economy | ||
| GNI per capita | $56,420#16 of 185 · 2025 | — |
| GDP | $2.32T2025 | — |
| Income group | High income | Low income |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | $66,746#24 of 184 · 2025 | — |
| GDP growth | +1.7%#141 of 187 · 2025 | — |
| Inflation | +2.1%#116 of 176 · 2025 | — |
| UnemploymentCanada: 1.97× the unemployment | 6.9%#58 of 178 · 2025 | 3.5%#121 of 178 · 2025 |
| Extreme poverty | 0.3%#116 of 149 · 2022 | — |
| Income inequality (Gini) | 31.5#107 of 149 · 2022 | — |
| Jobs in agricultureNorth Korea: 53.0 points higher | 1.1% of jobs#169 of 178 · 2025 | 54.1% of jobs#20 of 178 · 2025 |
| Jobs in industryNorth Korea: 3.7 points higher | 18.7% of jobs#96 of 178 · 2025 | 22.4% of jobs#62 of 178 · 2025 |
| Jobs in servicesCanada: 56.6 points higher | 80.1% of jobs#13 of 178 · 2025 | 23.5% of jobs#172 of 178 · 2025 |
| Foreign investment | 3.0% of GDP#65 of 184 · 2025 | — |
| Exports | 31.3% of GDP#100 of 168 · 2025 | — |
| Military spending | 1.6% of GDP#80 of 155 · 2025 | — |
| Internet users | 94%#28 of 184 · 2024 | — |
| Mobile subscriptionsCanada: 3.92× the mobile subscriptions | 94 per 100#137 of 191 · 2024 | 24 per 100#190 of 191 · 2022 |
| Energy & environment | ||
| Forest areaNorth Korea: 1.53× the forest share | 42% of land#62 of 192 · 2024 | 64% of land#20 of 192 · 2024 |
| CO₂ per personCanada: 5.6× the CO₂ per person | 14.0 t a year#11 of 185 · 2024 | 2.50 t a year#94 of 185 · 2024 |
| Renewable energyCanada: 9.1 points higher | 23.8%#96 of 190 · 2021 | 14.7%#124 of 190 · 2021 |
| Access to electricityCanada: 38.6 points higher | 100.0%#1 of 192 · 2024 | 61.4%#162 of 192 · 2024 |
| Air pollution (PM2.5)North Korea: 3.3× the air pollution | 6.6 µg/m³#176 of 191 · 2023 | 21.8 µg/m³#73 of 191 · 2023 |
| Protected landCanada: 10.5 points higher | 12.9% of land#131 of 191 · 2025 | 2.4% of land#178 of 191 · 2025 |
| Arable landNorth Korea: 14.8 points higher | 4.3% of land#134 of 190 · 2024 | 19.1% of land#56 of 190 · 2024 |
| Water stressNorth Korea: 7.49× the water stress | 3.7%#132 of 176 · 2022 | 27.7%#59 of 176 · 2022 |
| PrecipitationNorth Korea: 1.96× the rain and snow | 537 mm#138 of 180 · 2022 | 1,054 mm#88 of 180 · 2022 |
| Governance & safety | ||
| Political stabilityCanada: 0.73 higher | +0.81#48 of 193 · 2025 | +0.08#100 of 193 · 2025 |
| Control of corruptionCanada: 3.14 higher | +1.59#15 of 193 · 2025 | −1.55#186 of 193 · 2025 |
| Homicide rate | 2.0 per 100,000#80 of 146 · 2023 | — |
| State | ||
| Status | Independent state | Independent state |
| Government | Constitutional monarchyfederal parliamentary democracy (Parliament of Canada) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm; federal and state authorities and responsibilities regulated in constitution | One-party statedictatorship, single-party communist state |
| Member of | NATO, OECD, G7, G20 | — |
| Capital | Ottawa | Pyongyang |
| Currency | Canadian dollar (CAD) | North Korean won (KPW) |
| Official languages | English, French | Korean, North Korean standard language |
| Traffic drives | On the right | On the right |
| Time zone | UTC−5, summer time UTC−4 · UTC−8 to UTC−3:30, 6 time zones | UTC+9 |
| Calling code | +1 | +850 |
| Region | Northern America, North America | Eastern Asia, Asia |
Area: Wikidata. Population, income, health, economy, environment and governance: World Bank. Human Development Index: UNDP. Government: CIA World Factbook. Ranks among the 194 independent states. All sources
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Canada sits at about 60° N and is stretched to 4.1× its true area; North Korea at 40° N is stretched to 1.71×. That difference is why Canada looks so much bigger than it is next to North Korea. The figure above uses the Equal Earth projection, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
Questions about this pair
- Is Canada bigger than North Korea?
- Yes. Canada is 82.8 times larger than North Korea. Canada covers 9,984,670 km² and North Korea covers 120,540 km².
- How many times does North Korea fit into Canada?
- About 83 times: Canada has 82.8× the area of North Korea.
- Why do Canada and North Korea look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Canada is drawn about 4.1× its true area there and North Korea about 1.71×. That is why Canada looks so much bigger than it really is next to North Korea. Kartavera uses Equal Earth, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
- Which has more people, Canada or North Korea?
- Canada: 41,651,653 people against 26,571,036. Density: Canada 4.2 per km², North Korea 220 per km².
- Where do people live longer, Canada or North Korea?
- In Canada: life expectancy at birth is 82.1 years, against 73.7 — 8.4 years longer (World Bank, 2024).
- What kind of government do Canada and North Korea have?
- By constitution, as the CIA World Factbook describes them — Canada: constitutional monarchy; North Korea: one-party state.