Place comparison

Okinawa Main Island compared with Penghu: area, population and density

Okinawa Main Island has several times the land of the whole Penghu County archipelago and many times its population, but the two arrange that land very differently.

Place A Grouped by country or region Place B Grouped by country or region

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: Okinawa Main Island and Penghu County. Change the selector above and the page follows, so the reading always matches the tool.

Direct answer

How different are Okinawa Main Island and Penghu County?

Okinawa Main Island covers 1,208.5 km² (466.6 sq mi); Okinawa Main Island's area is 9.44 times Penghu County's. Its reported population is 1,352,975; Okinawa Main Island's population is 12.5 times Penghu County's. By average density, Okinawa Main Island's population density is 1.33 times Penghu County's.

Area difference

Okinawa Main Island's area is 9.44 times Penghu County's 1,208.5 km² (466.6 sq mi) · 128 km² (49.4 sq mi)

Population difference

Okinawa Main Island's population is 12.5 times Penghu County's 1,352,975 · 107,901

Density difference

Okinawa Main Island's population density is 1.33 times Penghu County's 1,119.6 /km² (2,900 /sq mi) · 843.2 /km² (2,184 /sq mi)

Full data and sources for each place: Okinawa Main Island area & population, Penghu County area & population

Straight-line distance between geometric centres: about 900 km; time difference: 1 hour.

On a familiar scale

Okinawa Main Island ≈ 1.55 × New York City 893 m² of land per resident
Penghu County ≈ 81% of Washington, D.C. (reference rung) 1,186 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

One continuous island against a county of 90 inventoried islands. The same land total produces road distance in one case and sea crossings in the other.

Geography and shape

Okinawa Main Island is one continuous landmass with a road network running its full length. Penghu County spreads a much smaller land total across an archipelago, where movement between the inhabited islands means boats or bridges rather than roads. Land area alone therefore predicts travel time poorly.

Population context

Okinawa Main Island’s population is many times Penghu’s while its land is a smaller multiple, so its average density is the higher of the two. Penghu’s county total combines residents across its inhabited islands and does not describe Penghu Main Island alone.

Boundaries and definitions

Okinawa is the physical main island; its population source additionally covers bridge-connected satellite islands that the area excludes, so the density shown runs about 2% high. Penghu uses the county’s official inventory of 90 islands, including uninhabited ones, together with its registered year-end population.

Okinawa Main Island: The main island of Okinawa, not the whole prefecture. Area is the island's own coastline, so bridge-connected satellites such as Yagaji, Henza and Sesoko are counted separately by the mapping authority. The prefectural population survey does the opposite: it reports only islands not linked by bridge, so those satellites are folded into this figure. The density shown is therefore about 2% high; a like-for-like denominator would be roughly 1,237 km². The count is the resident register, which includes foreign residents but not US military personnel stationed on the island.

Penghu County: The full Penghu County archipelago: 90 islands in the county inventory. Population is the registered year-end total; the area figure is the current official inventory accessed September 4, 2026.

In-depth guide

How should Okinawa Main Island and Penghu County be understood in context?

One continuous island is set here against a county archipelago of 90 inventoried islands, so the two land totals are arranged in completely different ways. The comparison is worth reading for that arrangement rather than for the totals alone.

Continuous land and scattered land

Okinawa Main Island is a single landmass. Penghu County is 90 islands in the county inventory, inhabited and uninhabited together. The same quantity of land, arranged continuously, produces road distance; arranged as an archipelago, it produces sea crossings.

This is the same lesson as the Miyako-and-Penghu and Ishigaki-and-Penghu pages already on the site, applied to a much larger single island. The area ratio compares totals, not the shape those totals take. Shape is what decides how you get from one point to another.

What each side’s figures actually cover

Penghu’s area and population both cover the entire county, uninhabited islands included. Neither figure describes Penghu Main Island on its own, and the county density is an average spread across the whole inventory. Anyone looking for a single-island answer needs a different record.

On the Okinawa side, the population folds in bridge-connected satellite islands that the area figure excludes, so the density here runs about 2% high. Neither caveat is large by itself, but both should travel with the number. Together they mean the two densities are best compared as approximations.

How this page sits beside the other Penghu pairings

Atlas already pairs Penghu with Miyako Island and with Ishigaki Island. Adding Okinawa Main Island lets the same archipelago total be read against a far larger stretch of continuous land, which makes the arrangement effect easier to see. The three pages are more useful read as a set than one at a time.

A strict island-to-island study would still need Penghu Main Island to have its own aligned outline, area and population. Until that record exists, the asymmetry is stated on the page rather than hidden inside a ratio. Use local ferry and road maps for anything that resembles an itinerary.

Questions people ask

About this geographic comparison

Which is bigger, Okinawa Main Island or Penghu County?

Okinawa Main Island is bigger, with a land area about 9.44× that of Penghu County (Okinawa Main Island 1,208.5 vs Penghu County 128 km², or 466.6 sq mi vs 49.4 sq mi).

How big is Okinawa Main Island compared to Penghu County?

Okinawa Main Island has 1,208.5 km² (466.6 sq mi) and Penghu County has 128 km² (49.4 sq mi): the ratio is 9.44×. Conversely, Penghu County has 10.6% of Okinawa Main Island's area.

Does Okinawa Main Island or Penghu County have more people?

Okinawa Main Island has 1,352,975 people (2025-01-01), versus 107,901 in Penghu County (2024-12-31): 12.5×. In reverse, Penghu County has 8% of Okinawa Main Island's population. Okinawa Main Island is 9.44× the size of Penghu County — 1,208.5 km² vs 128 km² (466.6 sq mi vs 49.4 sq mi). Population is 12.5× higher; average density is 1.33× higher. Each side’s scope and reference date are set out under “Boundaries and definitions” on this page.

Is Okinawa Main Island bigger than Penghu County?

Yes. Okinawa Main Island is bigger, with a land area about 9.44× that of Penghu County (Okinawa Main Island 1,208.5 vs Penghu County 128 km², or 466.6 sq mi vs 49.4 sq mi). The area difference is 1,080.5 km². Okinawa Main Island has 1,208.5 km² (466.6 sq mi) and Penghu County has 128 km² (49.4 sq mi): the ratio is 9.44×. Conversely, Penghu County has 10.6% of Okinawa Main Island's area.

How many times does Penghu County fit into Okinawa Main Island?

By land area, Penghu County fits into Okinawa Main Island about 9.44 times (1,208.5 km² vs 128 km², or 466.6 sq mi vs 49.4 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.

How much larger is Okinawa Main Island than Penghu?

Several times larger by land area, comparing the single island with all 90 islands in the Penghu County inventory. Okinawa Main Island is 9.44× the size of Penghu County — 1,208.5 km² vs 128 km² (466.6 sq mi vs 49.4 sq mi).

Does Penghu here mean Penghu Main Island?

No. It means the whole county archipelago, including uninhabited islands. A single-island comparison would use a much smaller area.

Can these figures tell me how long to spend on each?

No. Continuous land and scattered islands produce different transport patterns, and neither ferry schedules nor road networks appear in an area-and-population calculation.

Sources

Outline data: