Place comparison
Okinawa Main Island compared with Taiwan Main Island: area, population and density
Okinawa Main Island covers a small fraction of Taiwan Main Island but is settled far more densely. Both sides are physical islands, so the outlines and the figures describe the same kind of object.
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 detailed guide below compares Okinawa Main Island with Taiwan Main Island. Use the selector above to explore any other pair.
Direct answer
How different are Okinawa Main Island and Taiwan Main Island?
Okinawa Main Island covers 1,208.5 km²; Okinawa Main Island's area is about 3.4% of Taiwan Main Island's. Its reported population is 1,352,975; Okinawa Main Island's population is about 5.9% of Taiwan Main Island's. By average density, Okinawa Main Island's population density is 1.74 times Taiwan Main Island's.
Population difference
Okinawa Main Island's population is about 5.9% of Taiwan Main Island's 1,352,975 · 23,087,329Density difference
Okinawa Main Island's population density is 1.74 times Taiwan Main Island's 1,119.6 /km² · 644.7 /km²On a familiar scale
- Okinawa Main Island ≈ 1.12 × Changhua County 893 m² of land per resident
- Taiwan Main Island ≈ 12.1 × Kaohsiung City 1,551 m² of land per resident
Reference scales come from Department of Household Registration, Ministry of the Interior: Land area, households and population density by township and district (year-end 2025) , as of 2025-12-31.
How to read it
This is the island-to-island pairing. The prefecture-to-country page elsewhere on Atlas answers a different question and produces a different ratio.
Geography and shape
Okinawa Main Island is a long, narrow island running north-east to south-west, while Taiwan Main Island is a large mountainous landmass. Placing both outlines on one scale shows how much of the Ryukyu chain’s reputation rests on sea distance rather than land: the island reads as small once the sea between the groups is removed.
Population context
Okinawa Main Island holds a small share of Taiwan Main Island’s residents on a much smaller share of its land, so its average density is the higher of the two. Both averages still include mountains and farmland, so neither describes what a particular town feels like.
Boundaries and definitions
Both figures are island-only, which is the point of this page. Two limits are worth stating: Taiwan Main Island’s area is the sum of two published components because the ministry publishes no combined main-island total, and its population is derived by subtracting the offshore counties and island townships. Okinawa’s population source folds in bridge-connected satellite islands that its area excludes.
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.
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 Okinawa Main Island and Taiwan Main Island be understood in context?
This is the island-to-island pairing: Okinawa Main Island against Taiwan Main Island, with no prefecture or national administration wrapped around either side. Because both objects are single landmasses, the outline, the area figure and the label finally describe the same kind of thing.
Why an island-to-island pairing is different
Atlas also carries a prefecture-to-country pairing of Okinawa and Taiwan. That page measures two administrations, each of which reaches across separated island groups and open sea. This page strips those outlying islands away, so it answers a narrower question and produces a different result. Neither version is more correct; they simply describe different objects.
When both sides are landmasses, the shape you see on the map and the number printed under it come from the same boundary. That consistency is the reason this pairing is built separately instead of reusing the prefecture figures. If you quote a result from here, say that it is the main island; if you quote the other page, say that it is the prefecture.
How the Taiwan side is assembled
The ministry publishes no single combined total for Taiwan Main Island. The area used here is the sum of two published components: island-proper land plus reclaimed tidal land. Adding them is a stated construction rather than an official headline figure, and it is disclosed for that reason.
The population on this side is derived in the same spirit: offshore counties and island townships are subtracted from the national total to leave main-island residents. Any density computed from these two values inherits both steps. Carry the derivation with the number when you quote it.
A small upward bias in the Okinawa density
The Okinawa population on this page folds in bridge-connected satellite islands that the area figure excludes. Numerator and denominator therefore do not cover exactly the same ground. The effect is small: the reported density runs about 2% high.
The choice here is to disclose the bias rather than silently adjust the number, because an adjustment would need a source that separates those bridge-connected communities from the resident register. Read the density as an approximation good to a couple of percent. That is precise enough for a scale comparison and not precise enough for a ranking.
Questions people ask
About this geographic comparison
Why does this differ from the Okinawa Prefecture comparison?
Because the objects differ. That page compares the whole prefecture, including the Miyako and Yaeyama groups, with all of Taiwan’s administrative land. This page compares one island with one island. Neither is wrong; they answer different questions.
Is Taiwan Main Island’s population an official figure?
No. No government body publishes a main-island population, because household registration is organised by administrative unit. The figure here is derived from the same official table used for Taiwan as a whole, with the offshore counties and island townships subtracted.
Is the Okinawa density exact?
It runs about 2% high. The area covers the main island’s own coastline, while the population source includes bridge-connected satellite islands. A like-for-like denominator would be roughly 1,237 km².
Sources
- Geospatial Information Authority of Japan: Area by prefecture and municipality as of April 1, 2026 (E2-No.92), island area table
- Okinawa Prefectural Government: Resident register population and households by island, January 1, 2025
- 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 2024)
Outline data: