Portugal vs South Korea
South Korea is 9% larger than Portugal.
PortugalSouth KoreaPortugal moved onto South Korea · Equal-area projection
Remote islands and overseas parts not drawn; the figures include them
0.92×
Portugal is 0.92× the area of South Korea. Put the other way, South Korea is 1.09× the size of Portugal.
 Portugal |  South Korea | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| AreaSouth Korea: 1.09× the area | 92,225 km²#109 of 194 | 100,295 km²#107 of 194 |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Land neighbours | 1 | 1 |
| People | ||
| PopulationSouth Korea: 4.78× the population | 10,804,871#90 of 194 · 2025 | 51,684,564#29 of 194 · 2025 |
| DensitySouth Korea: 4.4× the density | 117 / km²#75 of 194 | 515 / km²#16 of 194 |
| Urban populationSouth Korea: 1.32× the urban share | 62%#102 of 192 · 2025 | 81%#39 of 192 · 2025 |
| Fertility ratePortugal: 1.88× the births per woman | 1.41 per woman#155 of 192 · 2024 | 0.75 per woman#192 of 192 · 2024 |
| Population growthPortugal: 1.16 points higher | +1.03%#96 of 192 · 2025 | −0.13%#165 of 192 · 2025 |
| Birth ratePortugal: 1.68× the birth rate | 7.9 per 1,000#171 of 192 · 2024 | 4.7 per 1,000#191 of 192 · 2024 |
| Death ratePortugal: 1.59× the death rate | 11.1 per 1,000#24 of 192 · 2024 | 7.0 per 1,000#102 of 192 · 2024 |
| Children under 15Portugal: 2.5 points higher | 12.7%#185 of 192 · 2025 | 10.2%#192 of 192 · 2025 |
| People over 65Portugal: 4.6 points higher | 24.9%#4 of 192 · 2025 | 20.3%#30 of 192 · 2025 |
| Net migrationPortugal: 0.2 per 1,000 higher | +1.5 per 1,000#43 of 192 · 2025 | +1.3 per 1,000#44 of 192 · 2025 |
| Refugees abroad | 0.01 per 1,000#155 of 190 · 2025 | 0.00 per 1,000#174 of 190 · 2025 |
| Health & education | ||
| Life expectancySouth Korea: 1.2 years longer | 82.4 years#23 of 192 · 2024 | 83.6 years#11 of 192 · 2024 |
| Infant mortalityPortugal: 1.17× the infant mortality | 2.7 per 1,000 births#170 of 191 · 2024 | 2.3 per 1,000 births#175 of 191 · 2024 |
| DoctorsPortugal: 2.24× the doctors per person | 5.85 per 1,000#5 of 178 · 2022 | 2.61 per 1,000#71 of 178 · 2022 |
| University enrolmentSouth Korea: 1.44× the university enrolment | 77.7%#29 of 145 · 2023 | 111.9%#3 of 145 · 2024 |
| Human Development IndexSouth Korea: 0.047 higher | 0.890#39 of 190 · 2023 | 0.937#19 of 190 · 2023 |
| Economy | ||
| GNI per capitaSouth Korea: 1.27× the income per person | $29,930#39 of 185 · 2025 | $37,880#29 of 185 · 2025 |
| GDPSouth Korea: 5.4× the economy | $346.64B2025 | $1.87T2025 |
| Income group | High income | High income |
| GDP per capita (PPP)South Korea: 1.19× the output per person | $53,146#40 of 184 · 2025 | $63,125#29 of 184 · 2025 |
| GDP growthPortugal: 0.9 points higher | +1.9%#134 of 187 · 2025 | +1.0%#156 of 187 · 2025 |
| InflationPortugal: 0.2 points higher | +2.3%#109 of 176 · 2025 | +2.1%#116 of 176 · 2025 |
| UnemploymentPortugal: 2.3× the unemployment | 6.2%#70 of 178 · 2025 | 2.7%#149 of 178 · 2025 |
| Extreme povertyPortugal: 4.0× the share in extreme poverty | 0.4%#107 of 149 · 2023 | 0.1%#126 of 149 · 2021 |
| Income inequality (Gini)Portugal: 1.0 higher | 33.9#80 of 149 · 2023 | 32.9#95 of 149 · 2021 |
| Jobs in agricultureSouth Korea: 2.3 points higher | 2.8% of jobs#148 of 178 · 2025 | 5.1% of jobs#130 of 178 · 2025 |
| Jobs in industryPortugal: 1.2 points higher | 24.6% of jobs#44 of 178 · 2025 | 23.4% of jobs#51 of 178 · 2025 |
| Jobs in servicesPortugal: 1.2 points higher | 72.7% of jobs#40 of 178 · 2025 | 71.5% of jobs#46 of 178 · 2025 |
| Foreign investmentPortugal: 2.7 points higher | 3.5% of GDP#56 of 184 · 2025 | 0.8% of GDP#137 of 184 · 2025 |
| ExportsSouth Korea: 2.1 points higher | 43.7% of GDP#58 of 168 · 2025 | 45.8% of GDP#54 of 168 · 2025 |
| Military spendingSouth Korea: 1.52× the military spending | 1.7% of GDP#78 of 155 · 2025 | 2.6% of GDP#38 of 155 · 2025 |
| Internet usersSouth Korea: 1.11× the share online | 89%#66 of 184 · 2024 | 98%#13 of 184 · 2024 |
| Mobile subscriptionsSouth Korea: 1.4× the mobile subscriptions | 124 per 100#71 of 191 · 2024 | 173 per 100#13 of 191 · 2024 |
| Energy & environment | ||
| Forest areaSouth Korea: 1.76× the forest share | 37% of land#77 of 192 · 2024 | 64% of land#19 of 192 · 2024 |
| CO₂ per personSouth Korea: 3.42× the CO₂ per person | 3.32 t a year#80 of 185 · 2024 | 11.4 t a year#15 of 185 · 2024 |
| Renewable energyPortugal: 28.7 points higher | 32.3%#77 of 190 · 2021 | 3.6%#161 of 190 · 2021 |
| Access to electricityThe same | 100.0%#1 of 192 · 2024 | 100.0%#1 of 192 · 2024 |
| Air pollution (PM2.5)South Korea: 2.49× the air pollution | 8.8 µg/m³#162 of 191 · 2023 | 21.9 µg/m³#71 of 191 · 2023 |
| Protected landPortugal: 5.3 points higher | 23.0% of land#58 of 191 · 2025 | 17.7% of land#95 of 191 · 2025 |
| Arable landSouth Korea: 4.0 points higher | 9.3% of land#104 of 190 · 2024 | 13.3% of land#78 of 190 · 2024 |
| Water stressSouth Korea: 6.93× the water stress | 12.3%#83 of 176 · 2022 | 85.2%#21 of 176 · 2022 |
| PrecipitationSouth Korea: 1.49× the rain and snow | 854 mm#100 of 180 · 2022 | 1,274 mm#71 of 180 · 2022 |
| Governance & safety | ||
| Political stabilitySouth Korea: 0.22 higher | +0.70#56 of 193 · 2025 | +0.92#42 of 193 · 2025 |
| Control of corruptionSouth Korea: 0.15 higher | +0.77#43 of 193 · 2025 | +0.92#36 of 193 · 2025 |
| Homicide ratePortugal: 1.4× the homicide rate | 0.7 per 100,000#123 of 146 · 2022 | 0.5 per 100,000#137 of 146 · 2023 |
| State | ||
| Status | Independent state | Independent state |
| Government | Semi-presidential republic | Presidential republic |
| Member of | EU, NATO, Euro area, Schengen Area, OECD | OECD, G20 |
| Capital | Lisbon | Seoul |
| Currency | Euro (EUR) | South Korean won (KRW) |
| Official languages | Portuguese | Korean, Korean Sign Language |
| Traffic drives | On the right | On the right |
| Time zone | UTC, summer time UTC+1 · UTC−1 to UTC, 2 time zones | UTC+9 |
| Calling code | +351 | +82 |
| Region | Southern Europe, Europe | 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. Portugal sits at about 40° N and is stretched to 1.68× 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 Portugal bigger than South Korea?
- No. Portugal is 8% smaller than South Korea. Portugal covers 92,225 km² and South Korea covers 100,295 km².
- How many times does Portugal fit into South Korea?
- About 1.1 times: South Korea has 1.09× the area of Portugal.
- Why do Portugal and South Korea look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Portugal is drawn about 1.68× 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, Portugal or South Korea?
- South Korea: 51,684,564 people against 10,804,871. Density: Portugal 117 per km², South Korea 515 per km².
- Which is richer, Portugal or South Korea?
- By gross national income per person, South Korea: $37,880 against $29,930 (World Bank, Atlas method, 2025) — 1.27× as much.
- Where do people live longer, Portugal or South Korea?
- In South Korea: life expectancy at birth is 83.6 years, against 82.4 — 1.2 years longer (World Bank, 2024).
- What kind of government do Portugal and South Korea have?
- By constitution, as the CIA World Factbook describes them — Portugal: semi-presidential republic; South Korea: presidential republic.