Place comparison
Taiwan compared with Texas: area, population and density
Texas has about 18.7 times Taiwan’s land, but Taiwan has about three-quarters of Texas’s population, so Taiwan is about 14 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: Taiwan and Texas. Change the selector above and the page follows, so the reading always matches the tool.
Direct answer
How different are Taiwan and Texas?
Taiwan covers 36,197.3 km² (13,976 sq mi); Taiwan's area is about 5.3% of Texas's. Its reported population is 23,299,132; Taiwan's population is about 73.5% of Texas's. By average density, Taiwan's population density is 13.7 times Texas's.
Population difference
Taiwan's population is about 73.5% of Texas's 23,299,132 · 31,709,821Density difference
Taiwan's population density is 13.7 times Texas's 643.7 /km² (1,667 /sq mi) · 46.9 /km² (121 /sq mi)Full data and sources for each place: Taiwan area & population, Texas area & population
Straight-line distance between geometric centres: about 12547 km; time difference: 14 hours (13 hours during daylight saving time).
On a familiar scale
- Taiwan ≈ 1.44 × Maryland (reference rung) 1,554 m² of land per resident
- Texas ≈ 1.68 × California 21,339 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
About 19 Taiwans of land fit inside Texas, yet Taiwan holds nearly three-quarters as many people.
Geography and shape
Taiwan is an island of about 36,000 km² whose main island runs roughly 390 km north to south, with a central mountain range and most people on the western plains. Texas is the second-largest US state by area after Alaska, stretching more than 1,200 km in each direction from the Gulf Coast to the High Plains and the Chihuahuan Desert.
Population context
Taiwan has 23,299,132 registered residents on 36,197 km², about 644 per km². Texas has an estimated 31,709,821 residents on 676,660 km² of land, about 47 per km². Taiwan packs about 73% of Texas’s population into about 5% of its land.
Boundaries and definitions
Taiwan uses household registration at year-end 2025 and national administrative land area, outlying islands included. Texas uses the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 estimate for 1 July 2025 and the state’s land area, which leaves out 19,008 km² of inland and coastal water. Counting that water, Texas is about 19.2 Taiwans instead of 18.7.
Taiwan: Registered population and official administrative land area.
Texas: The State of Texas: 676,660.16 km² of land and 31,709,821 residents. Area is the Census Bureau’s land area (ALAND) for the state in the 2025 Gazetteer, which excludes inland and coastal water — another 19,008 km², so the land-plus-water total is 695,668 km². Population is the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 resident estimate for 1 July 2025, not a census count. The outline is Natural Earth’s admin-1 polygon for Texas, which measures about 1.4% larger than the official land area because its coastline encloses some bays. Most of Texas keeps Central Time (UTC−6, UTC−5 in summer); El Paso and Hudspeth counties in the far west use Mountain Time, one hour behind.
In-depth guide
How should Taiwan and Texas be understood in context?
Texas is the size Americans reach for when they want to say “big”, and Taiwan is one of the places they most often measure against it. The answer is lopsided on land and surprisingly close on people: Texas has about 18.7 times Taiwan’s land, but Taiwan has about three-quarters of Texas’s population.
Nineteen Taiwans of land, three-quarters of the people
Texas’s 676,660 km² of land would hold Taiwan’s 36,197 km² about 18.7 times. Yet Taiwan’s 23.3 million people are about 73% of Texas’s 31.7 million. The result is an average density of about 644 people per km² in Taiwan against about 47 in Texas — roughly fourteen to one.
Neither average describes daily life. Most of Taiwan’s people live on the western plains, while its central mountains are thinly settled; most Texans live in the Houston, Dallas–Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin metropolitan areas, while the west of the state is nearly empty.
A state that is closer in size
If Texas is too large a ruler, the nearest state by Census land area is Maryland: Taiwan is about 1.4 times Maryland’s 25,151 km². The next state up, West Virginia, has about 1.7 times Taiwan’s land.
Questions people ask
About this geographic comparison
Which is bigger, Taiwan or Texas?
Texas is bigger, with a land area about 18.7× that of Taiwan (Taiwan 36,197.3 vs Texas 676,660.2 km², or 13,976 sq mi vs 261,260 sq mi).
How big is Taiwan compared to Texas?
Texas has 676,660.2 km² (261,260 sq mi) and Taiwan has 36,197.3 km² (13,976 sq mi): the ratio is 18.7×. Conversely, Taiwan has 5.3% of Texas's area.
Does Taiwan or Texas have more people?
Texas has 31,709,821 people (2025-07-01), versus 23,299,132 in Taiwan (2025-12-31): 1.36×. In reverse, Taiwan has 73.5% of Texas's population. Taiwan is 5.3% the size of Texas — 36,197.3 km² vs 676,660.2 km² (13,976 sq mi vs 261,260 sq mi). Population is 73.5% as high; average density is 13.7× higher. Each side’s scope and reference date are set out under “Boundaries and definitions” on this page.
Is Taiwan bigger than Texas?
No. Texas is bigger, with a land area about 18.7× that of Taiwan (Taiwan 36,197.3 vs Texas 676,660.2 km², or 13,976 sq mi vs 261,260 sq mi). The area difference is 640,462.8 km². Texas has 676,660.2 km² (261,260 sq mi) and Taiwan has 36,197.3 km² (13,976 sq mi): the ratio is 18.7×. Conversely, Taiwan has 5.3% of Texas's area.
How many Taiwans would fit in Texas?
About 18.7 by land area: 676,660 km² against 36,197 km². Including Texas’s inland and coastal water it is about 19.2.
Which US state is closest to Taiwan in size?
No state is a close match. By Census land area Taiwan is about 1.4 times Maryland (25,151 km²) and about 58% of West Virginia (62,267 km²), the next state up. Counting water as well, Maryland (32,131 km²) is the nearest, and Taiwan is about 1.13 times its size.
Sources
- Ministry of the Interior, Taiwan: Land area, households and population by region
- 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