Place comparison
Hainan Island compared with Singapore: area, population and density
Hainan Island has about 46 times Singapore’s land and about 1.7 times its population, so Singapore is about 26 times as dense.
Equal-area outline comparison
Outlines are centered and scaled by official land area; position does not show geographic location.
Area
Population
Population density
Area data date
Population data date
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The guide below belongs to this pair: Hainan Island and Singapore. Change the selector above and the page follows, so the reading always matches the tool.
Direct answer
How different are Hainan Island and Singapore?
Hainan Island covers 33,900 km² (13,089 sq mi); Hainan Island's area is 45.5 times Singapore's. Its reported population is 10,552,300; Hainan Island's population is 1.73 times Singapore's. By average density, Hainan Island's population density is about 3.8% of Singapore's.
Population difference
Hainan Island's population is 1.73 times Singapore's 10,552,300 · 6,111,175Density difference
Hainan Island's population density is about 3.8% of Singapore's 311.3 /km² (806 /sq mi) · 8,210.6 /km² (21,265 /sq mi)Full data and sources for each place: Hainan Island area & population, Singapore area & population
Straight-line distance between geometric centres: about 2080 km; time difference: none.
On a familiar scale
- Hainan Island ≈ 1.35 × Maryland (reference rung) 3,213 m² of land per resident
- Singapore ≈ the size of New York City 122 m² of land per resident
Reference scales come from U.S. Census Bureau: 2025 Gazetteer Files: land area of states and counties , as of 2025-01-01.
How to read it
Forty-five Singapores of land hold fewer than twice Singapore’s people.
Geography and shape
Hainan is a large tropical island off southern China, roughly 18–20°N. Singapore is a city-state on one main island and some sixty smaller islands at about 1°N, at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula.
Population context
Hainan has 10,552,300 permanent residents on 33,900 km², about 311 per km². Singapore has 6,111,175 on 744 km², about 8,211 per km². Hainan has about 1.7 times Singapore’s population on about 46 times its land.
Boundaries and definitions
Hainan’s area is the main island only, while its population is the whole province’s at year-end 2025. Singapore uses its total land area at 31 December 2025, which grows with reclamation, and its total population at end-June 2025, including about 1.91 million non-residents.
Hainan Island: Area is the land area of Hainan Island itself, published by the provincial government as 33,900 km², covering only the main island. The population is the province's — 10,552,300 permanent residents at year-end 2025 — so the density here divides a provincial population by an island area. The overstatement is small, because the province's other administered islands hold only a few thousand residents, but the pairing is not like-for-like. Hainan Province separately publishes a land area of 35,400 km², which adds those island groups; the roughly 2,000,000 km² figure often quoted for Hainan is maritime jurisdiction, not land, and is never used here. The area carries no stated survey date, so the date shown is when the official page was read.
Singapore: Total land area surveyed by the Singapore Land Authority as at 31 December 2025, covering the main island and its offshore islands. The figure rises with reclamation and is restated annually — it was 735.7 km² a year earlier. Population is the Department of Statistics total population at end-June 2025: citizens 3,660,683, permanent residents 543,832 and about 1.91 million non-residents, counted by place of usual residence, so tourists and short-term visitors are excluded. The two dates are six months apart, and the outline traces the main island, Pulau Ujong, which is about 88% of the official area — Pulau Tekong, Jurong Island, Pulau Ubin, Sentosa and some sixty smaller islands are counted in the figure but not drawn.
In-depth guide
How should Hainan Island and Singapore be understood in context?
Hainan calls itself a tropical island resort, and Singaporeans weigh it against home. On land there is no contest — Hainan is about 46 Singapores — but Hainan has fewer than twice Singapore’s people.
Forty-six times the land, under twice the people
Hainan Island’s 33,900 km² is about 46 times Singapore’s 744 km². Its 10.55 million residents are about 1.7 times Singapore’s 6.11 million, which puts Hainan at about 311 people per km² against Singapore’s 8,211.
At one scale, Singapore is a small mark beside Hainan’s outline — the comparison is closer to a city against a province than island against island.
Questions people ask
About this geographic comparison
Which is bigger, Hainan Island or Singapore?
Hainan Island is bigger, with a land area about 45.5× that of Singapore (Hainan Island 33,900 vs Singapore 744.3 km², or 13,089 sq mi vs 287.4 sq mi).
How big is Hainan Island compared to Singapore?
Hainan Island has 33,900 km² (13,089 sq mi) and Singapore has 744.3 km² (287.4 sq mi): the ratio is 45.5×. Conversely, Singapore has 2.2% of Hainan Island's area.
Does Hainan Island or Singapore have more people?
Hainan Island has 10,552,300 people (2025-12-31), versus 6,111,175 in Singapore (2025-06-30): 1.73×. In reverse, Singapore has 57.9% of Hainan Island's population. Hainan Island is 45.5× the size of Singapore — 33,900 km² vs 744.3 km² (13,089 sq mi vs 287.4 sq mi). Population is 1.73× higher; average density is 3.8% as high. Each side’s scope and reference date are set out under “Boundaries and definitions” on this page.
Is Hainan Island bigger than Singapore?
Yes. Hainan Island is bigger, with a land area about 45.5× that of Singapore (Hainan Island 33,900 vs Singapore 744.3 km², or 13,089 sq mi vs 287.4 sq mi). The area difference is 33,155.7 km². Hainan Island has 33,900 km² (13,089 sq mi) and Singapore has 744.3 km² (287.4 sq mi): the ratio is 45.5×. Conversely, Singapore has 2.2% of Hainan Island's area.
How many times does Singapore fit into Hainan Island?
By land area, Singapore fits into Hainan Island about 45.5 times (33,900 km² vs 744.3 km², or 13,089 sq mi vs 287.4 sq mi). It is an area ratio, not a jigsaw fit: coastlines and shapes differ, which the outlines on this page show at one scale.
Is Hainan bigger than Singapore?
Much bigger: about 46 times by land area, 33,900 km² against 744 km². By population the gap is far smaller — Hainan has about 1.7 times Singapore’s people.
Does Hainan have more people than Singapore?
Yes, about 10.55 million against 6.11 million, roughly 1.7 times — spread over 46 times the land.
Sources
- Hainan Provincial People's Government: Hainan overview: island land area
- Hainan Provincial Bureau of Statistics: Main data on the permanent resident population of Hainan Province, 2025
- Singapore Land Authority: Total Land Area of Singapore
- Singapore Department of Statistics: Indicators on Population, Annual (Table M810001)
Outline data: