North Korea vs South Korea
North Korea is 20% larger than South Korea.
North KoreaSouth KoreaNorth Korea moved onto South Korea · Equal-area projection
1.2×
North Korea is 1.2× the area of South Korea.
| North Korea | South Korea | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 120,540 km² | 100,295 km² |
| Population | 26,571,036 | 51,684,564 |
| Density | 220 / km² | 515 / km² |
| Capital | Pyongyang | Seoul |
| Region | Eastern Asia | Eastern Asia |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 3 | 1 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. North Korea sits at about 40°N and is stretched to 1.71× its true area; South Korea at 36° N is stretched to 1.54×. 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 North Korea bigger than South Korea?
- Yes. North Korea is 20% larger than South Korea. North Korea covers 120,540 km² and South Korea covers 100,295 km².
- How many times does South Korea fit into North Korea?
- About 1.2 times: North Korea has 1.2× the area of South Korea.
- Why do North Korea and South Korea look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. North Korea is drawn about 1.71× its true area there and South Korea about 1.54×. 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, North Korea or South Korea?
- South Korea: 51,684,564 people against 26,571,036. Density: North Korea 220 per km², South Korea 515 per km².