Italy vs Japan

Japan is 25% larger than Italy.

ItalyJapanItaly moved onto Japan · Equal-area projection
0.8×
Italy is 0.8× the area of Japan. Put the other way, Japan is 1.25× the size of Italy.
ItalyJapan
Area302,068 km²377,972 km²
Population58,915,656123,366,734
Density195 / km²326 / km²
CapitalRomeTokyo
RegionSouthern EuropeEastern Asia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours60

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Italy sits at about 43°N and is stretched to 1.85× 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 Italy bigger than Japan?
No. Italy is 20% smaller than Japan. Italy covers 302,068 km² and Japan covers 377,972 km².
How many times does Italy fit into Japan?
About 1.3 times: Japan has 1.25× the area of Italy.
Why do Italy and Japan look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Italy is drawn about 1.85× 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, Italy or Japan?
Japan: 123,366,734 people against 58,915,656. Density: Italy 195 per km², Japan 326 per km².