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

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.