Place comparison
Okinawa Prefecture compared with Hawaii: area, population and density
Hawaii has about 7.3 times Okinawa Prefecture’s land, yet the two hold almost the same number of people — about 1.47 million in Okinawa and 1.43 million in Hawaii — so Okinawa is about 7.5 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: Okinawa Prefecture and Hawaii. Change the selector above and the page follows, so the reading always matches the tool.
Direct answer
How different are Okinawa Prefecture and Hawaii?
Okinawa Prefecture covers 2,282.1 km² (881.1 sq mi); Okinawa Prefecture's area is about 13.7% of Hawaii's. Its reported population is 1,467,065; Okinawa Prefecture's population is 1.02 times Hawaii's. By average density, Okinawa Prefecture's population density is 7.46 times Hawaii's.
Population difference
Okinawa Prefecture's population is 1.02 times Hawaii's 1,467,065 · 1,432,820Density difference
Okinawa Prefecture's population density is 7.46 times Hawaii's 642.9 /km² (1,665 /sq mi) · 86.1 /km² (223 /sq mi)Full data and sources for each place: Okinawa Prefecture area & population, Hawaii area & population
Straight-line distance between geometric centres: about 8211 km; time difference: 19 hours.
On a familiar scale
- Okinawa Prefecture ≈ 85% of Rhode Island (reference rung) 1,556 m² of land per resident
- Hawaii ≈ 1.33 × Connecticut (reference rung) 11,610 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 Pacific island chains with almost the same population, but Hawaii spreads it over seven times the land.
Geography and shape
Okinawa Prefecture is a chain of subtropical islands — the Okinawa, Miyako and Yaeyama groups — strung between Kyushu and Taiwan. Hawaii is a chain of volcanic islands in the middle of the North Pacific; Hawaiʻi Island alone is about 63% of the state’s land, and Oʻahu, home to Honolulu, is where most people live.
Population context
Okinawa Prefecture has 1,467,065 people on 2,282 km², about 643 per km². Hawaii has an estimated 1,432,820 on 16,634 km² of land, about 86 per km². Okinawa holds about 2% more people on about 14% of Hawaii’s land.
Boundaries and definitions
Okinawa uses the prefecture’s estimated population for 1 October 2024 and the land area of all its island groups. Hawaii uses the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 estimate for 1 July 2025 and the state’s land area, which leaves out 11,777 km² of inland and coastal water. Both are the whole archipelago, not the main island: Okinawa Island alone is 1,208 km².
Okinawa Prefecture: The full prefecture, including the Okinawa, Miyako and Yaeyama island groups.
Hawaii: The State of Hawaii: 16,634.44 km² of land and 1,432,820 residents. Area is the Census Bureau’s land area (ALAND) for the state in the 2025 Gazetteer; it excludes 11,777 km² of inland and coastal water, so the land-plus-water total is 28,412 km². Population is the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 resident estimate for 1 July 2025, not a census count. Hawaiʻi Island (Hawaii County) is about 63% of the land, while Honolulu County on Oʻahu holds about 69% of the residents. The outline is Natural Earth’s admin-1 polygon showing the eight main islands; the tiny Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, strung out nearly 2,000 km further northwest, are counted in the area but not drawn. The drawn islands measure about 1.5% more than the official land area. Hawaii keeps Hawaii–Aleutian Standard Time (UTC−10) all year and does not observe daylight saving time.
In-depth guide
How should Okinawa Prefecture and Hawaii be understood in context?
Ask English speakers how big Okinawa is and many reach for Hawaii, the other Pacific island chain they know. The populations make the comparison look closer than it is: both have about 1.4–1.5 million people, but Hawaii has about 7.3 times Okinawa Prefecture’s land.
Same population, a seventh of the land
Okinawa Prefecture’s 2,282 km² would fit into Hawaii’s 16,634 km² of land about 7.3 times, yet Okinawa has about 34,000 more residents. That makes Okinawa about 643 people per km² and Hawaii about 86 — roughly seven and a half to one.
Much of the gap is Hawaiʻi Island: at about 10,434 km² it is larger than all of Okinawa Prefecture four times over but holds only about 210,000 people. Oʻahu, with about 989,000 residents on 1,556 km², is the closer match to Okinawa in how people actually live.
Questions people ask
About this geographic comparison
Which is bigger, Okinawa Prefecture or Hawaii?
Hawaii is bigger, with a land area about 7.29× that of Okinawa Prefecture (Okinawa Prefecture 2,282.1 vs Hawaii 16,634.4 km², or 881.1 sq mi vs 6,423 sq mi).
How big is Okinawa Prefecture compared to Hawaii?
Hawaii has 16,634.4 km² (6,423 sq mi) and Okinawa Prefecture has 2,282.1 km² (881.1 sq mi): the ratio is 7.29×. Conversely, Okinawa Prefecture has 13.7% of Hawaii's area.
Does Okinawa Prefecture or Hawaii have more people?
Okinawa Prefecture has 1,467,065 people (2024-10-01), versus 1,432,820 in Hawaii (2025-07-01): 1.02×. In reverse, Hawaii has 97.7% of Okinawa Prefecture's population. Okinawa Prefecture is 13.7% the size of Hawaii — 2,282.1 km² vs 16,634.4 km² (881.1 sq mi vs 6,423 sq mi). Population is 1.02× higher; average density is 7.46× higher. Each side’s scope and reference date are set out under “Boundaries and definitions” on this page.
Is Okinawa Prefecture bigger than Hawaii?
No. Hawaii is bigger, with a land area about 7.29× that of Okinawa Prefecture (Okinawa Prefecture 2,282.1 vs Hawaii 16,634.4 km², or 881.1 sq mi vs 6,423 sq mi). The area difference is 14,352.3 km². Hawaii has 16,634.4 km² (6,423 sq mi) and Okinawa Prefecture has 2,282.1 km² (881.1 sq mi): the ratio is 7.29×. Conversely, Okinawa Prefecture has 13.7% of Hawaii's area.
How many Okinawas would fit in Hawaii?
About 7.3 by land area: 16,634 km² against 2,282 km². Counting only Okinawa Island (1,208 km²), it is about 13.8.
Is Okinawa bigger than Oʻahu?
Okinawa Prefecture is; Okinawa Island is not. Honolulu County — Oʻahu plus the tiny Northwestern Hawaiian Islands — has 1,556 km² of land, so the prefecture (2,282 km²) is about 1.5 times it, while Okinawa Island (1,208 km²) is about 78% of it.
Sources
- Okinawa Prefectural Government: Estimated population as of October 1, 2024
- Okinawa Prefectural Government: Okinawa Prefecture overview
- U.S. Census Bureau: 2025 Gazetteer Files: states (land area, ALAND)
- U.S. Census Bureau: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States and States: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2025 (Vintage 2025)
Outline data:
- Natural Earth · Public domain