Place comparison
Kyushu compared with Taiwan Main Island: area, population and density
Kyushu is about 2.7% larger than Taiwan Main Island, but Taiwan Main Island holds about 1.9 times as many people, so it is nearly twice 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
:
:
The guide below belongs to this pair: Kyushu and Taiwan Main Island. Change the selector above and the page follows, so the reading always matches the tool.
Direct answer
How different are Kyushu and Taiwan Main Island?
Kyushu covers 36,780.8 km² (14,201 sq mi); Kyushu's area is 1.03 times Taiwan Main Island's. Its reported population is 12,002,707; Kyushu's population is about 52.2% of Taiwan Main Island's. By average density, Kyushu's population density is about 50.8% of Taiwan Main Island's.
Population difference
Kyushu's population is about 52.2% of Taiwan Main Island's 12,002,707 · 22,992,953Density difference
Kyushu's population density is about 50.8% of Taiwan Main Island's 326.3 /km² (845 /sq mi) · 642 /km² (1,663 /sq mi)Full data and sources for each place: Kyushu area & population, Taiwan Main Island area & population
Straight-line distance between geometric centres: about 1409 km; time difference: 1 hour.
On a familiar scale
- Kyushu ≈ 1.46 × Maryland (reference rung) 3,064 m² of land per resident
- Taiwan Main Island ≈ 1.42 × Maryland (reference rung) 1,558 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
Two islands of almost exactly the same size; Taiwan Main Island holds nearly twice the people.
Geography and shape
Kyushu is the south-westernmost of Japan’s four main islands and the third largest, after Honshu and Hokkaido; the narrow Kanmon Strait separates it from Honshu. Taiwan Main Island is longer and narrower, with the Central Mountain Range pushing most settlement onto its western plains. On one scale the two outlines cover almost the same area in very different shapes.
Population context
Kyushu has about 12.0 million people (12,002,707, derived from the 1 October 2025 census) on 36,780.84 km², about 326 per km². Taiwan Main Island has 22,992,953 registered residents at year-end 2025 on 35,812.06 km², about 642 per km². Taiwan Main Island holds about 1.9 times Kyushu’s population on slightly less land.
Boundaries and definitions
Both figures are the island alone, and neither population is published officially: each is derived by subtracting outlying municipalities from an official table. Kyushu’s area is the Geospatial Information Authority’s island figure (1 July 2026), not the seven prefectures of the Kyushu region, which cover 42,228.10 km² with Tsushima, the Goto Islands, Amakusa, Yakushima and the Amami Islands. Its population is the seven prefectures’ 2025 census total (12,373,566) minus every municipality wholly on an outlying island, so it runs very slightly high. Taiwan Main Island’s area is island-proper land plus reclaimed tidal land, and its population is household registration minus Penghu, Kinmen, Lienchiang and the island townships. The two population dates are three months apart.
Kyushu: The island of Kyushu itself, not the seven prefectures of the Kyushu region. Area is the island's own coastline as measured by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan; the seven prefectures together cover 42,228.10 km² because they also include Tsushima, Iki, the Goto Islands, Amakusa, Tanegashima, Yakushima and the Amami Islands. No official body publishes a population for the island alone: this figure is the seven prefectures' 2025 census population (12,373,566) minus every municipality, and every former municipality, that lies wholly on an outlying island. A few small inhabited islands inside mainland municipalities could not be separated, so the figure runs very slightly high. Five of the seven prefecture totals are reference values because of boundary-undetermined zones; the island figure is not affected.
Taiwan Main Island: The main island alone, excluding every offshore island. Area is the Ministry of the Interior's island-proper land (35,767.6263 km²) plus its reclaimed tidal land (44.4337 km²); the ministry publishes the two components but no combined main-island total. Population is derived from the same household-registration table used for Taiwan as a whole, subtracting Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties, the Pratas and Spratly Islands, and the Green Island, Orchid Island, Liuqiu and Qijin townships. No official body publishes a main-island population.
In-depth guide
How should Kyushu and Taiwan Main Island be understood in context?
“Taiwan is about the size of Kyushu” is a common way to describe Taiwan in Japan, and it holds: Taiwan as a whole is about 98.4% of Kyushu, and island against island Kyushu is only about 2.7% larger than Taiwan Main Island. The difference is in the people — Taiwan Main Island holds about 1.9 times as many.
Which Kyushu
The answer depends on whether Kyushu means the island or the region. The island is 36,780.84 km², Japan’s third largest after Honshu and Hokkaido. The seven prefectures of the Kyushu region — Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki and Kagoshima — cover 42,228.10 km², because they also govern Tsushima, Iki, the Goto Islands, Amakusa, Tanegashima, Yakushima and the Amami Islands.
Against the island, Taiwan is about 98% of Kyushu; against the seven prefectures it is about 86%. “About the same size” is true for the island.
Same size, nearly twice the density
Kyushu averages about 326 people per km² and Taiwan Main Island about 642, so Taiwan Main Island is nearly twice as dense. Both averages include thinly settled mountain land, so neither describes what a city on either island feels like.
Neither island has an official population. Both figures here subtract outlying municipalities from an official table — Japan’s 2025 census for Kyushu, Taiwan’s household registration for Taiwan Main Island — which is what makes an island-to-island comparison possible at all.
Questions people ask
About this geographic comparison
Which is bigger, Kyushu or Taiwan Main Island?
Kyushu is bigger, with a land area about 1.03× that of Taiwan Main Island (Kyushu 36,780.8 vs Taiwan Main Island 35,812.1 km², or 14,201 sq mi vs 13,827 sq mi).
How big is Kyushu compared to Taiwan Main Island?
Kyushu has 36,780.8 km² (14,201 sq mi) and Taiwan Main Island has 35,812.1 km² (13,827 sq mi): the ratio is 1.03×. Conversely, Taiwan Main Island has 97.4% of Kyushu's area.
Does Kyushu or Taiwan Main Island have more people?
Taiwan Main Island has 22,992,953 people (2025-12-31), versus 12,002,707 in Kyushu (2025-10-01): 1.92×. In reverse, Kyushu has 52.2% of Taiwan Main Island's population. Kyushu is 1.03× the size of Taiwan Main Island — 36,780.8 km² vs 35,812.1 km² (14,201 sq mi vs 13,827 sq mi). Population is 52.2% as high; average density is 50.8% as high. Each side’s scope and reference date are set out under “Boundaries and definitions” on this page.
Is Kyushu bigger than Taiwan Main Island?
Yes. Kyushu is bigger, with a land area about 1.03× that of Taiwan Main Island (Kyushu 36,780.8 vs Taiwan Main Island 35,812.1 km², or 14,201 sq mi vs 13,827 sq mi). The area difference is 968.8 km². Kyushu has 36,780.8 km² (14,201 sq mi) and Taiwan Main Island has 35,812.1 km² (13,827 sq mi): the ratio is 1.03×. Conversely, Taiwan Main Island has 97.4% of Kyushu's area.
Is Taiwan the same size as Kyushu?
Very nearly. Taiwan as a whole, outlying islands included, is 36,197 km², about 98.4% of Kyushu’s 36,780.84 km². Island against island, Taiwan Main Island’s 35,812.06 km² is about 97.4% of Kyushu. Against the seven prefectures of the Kyushu region (42,228.10 km²), Taiwan is about 86%.
Does this Kyushu include Okinawa or Kyushu’s outlying islands?
No. It is the island of Kyushu alone. The seven prefectures of the Kyushu region add Tsushima, Iki, the Goto Islands, Amakusa, Tanegashima, Yakushima and the Amami Islands, for 42,228.10 km² and 12,373,566 people in the 2025 census. Okinawa Prefecture is not part of either figure.
Is Kyushu’s population an official figure?
No. Japan publishes population by prefecture and municipality, not by island. The 12,002,707 here is the seven prefectures’ 2025 census population minus every municipality wholly on an outlying island; a few small islands inside mainland municipalities could not be separated, so it runs very slightly high. Taiwan Main Island’s figure is derived the same way from household registration.
Sources
- Geospatial Information Authority of Japan: Area by prefecture and municipality as of July 1, 2026, appendix 3 island area table
- Statistics Bureau of Japan: 2025 Population Census, basic complete tabulation on population and households, table 1-1 (prefectures and municipalities)
- Department of Land Administration, Ministry of the Interior: Yearbook of Interior Statistics 05-18: area and coastline of Taiwan (end of 2017)
- Department of Household Registration, Ministry of the Interior: Land area, households and population density by township and district (year-end 2025, ROC 114)
Outline data: