Place profile
Also known as: Kyushu Island, Kyūshū
Kyushu covers 36,780.8 km² (14,201 sq mi) of land and had a population of 12 million in 2025, about 326 people per km² (845 per sq mi). In more familiar terms, it is about 1.46 times the size of Maryland.
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Calculated from the population and area above; their reference dates may differ.
The closest rung on the US reference ladder (Census Bureau land area); see the sources below.
The inverse of population density, from the same area and population figures.
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The island of Kyushu itself, not the seven prefectures of the Kyushu region. Area is the island's own coastline as measured by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan; the seven prefectures together cover 42,228.10 km² because they also include Tsushima, Iki, the Goto Islands, Amakusa, Tanegashima, Yakushima and the Amami Islands. No official body publishes a population for the island alone: this figure is the seven prefectures' 2025 census population (12,373,566) minus every municipality, and every former municipality, that lies wholly on an outlying island. A few small inhabited islands inside mainland municipalities could not be separated, so the figure runs very slightly high. Five of the seven prefecture totals are reference values because of boundary-undetermined zones; the island figure is not affected.
Average administrative density does not describe population distribution in every neighborhood. Compare population definitions and reference dates alongside the numbers.
Place guide
Kyushu, the island itself, covers 36,780.84 km² and holds about 12.0 million people (derived from the 2025 census), about 326 per km². It is Japan’s third-largest island, after Honshu and Hokkaido, and almost exactly the size of Taiwan.
This page is the island. The seven prefectures of the Kyushu region cover 42,228.10 km² and had 12,373,566 people in the 2025 census, because they also include Tsushima, Iki, the Goto Islands, Amakusa, Tanegashima, Yakushima and the Amami Islands. Okinawa Prefecture is counted in neither.
Japan publishes population by prefecture and municipality, not by island. The 12,002,707 here is the seven prefectures’ 2025 census total minus every municipality, and every former municipality, that lies wholly on an outlying island.
A few small inhabited islands inside mainland municipalities could not be separated, so the figure runs very slightly high. The area is the Geospatial Information Authority’s measurement of the island’s own coastline; the outline is OpenStreetMap’s island polygon, which measures within 0.1% of it.
Questions people ask
Kyushu covers 36,780.8 km², or 14,201 sq mi (reference date 2026-07-01). In US terms: ≈ 1.46 × Maryland.
12 million — 12,002,707 as of 2025-10-01. The scope of that count is set out under “Scope and definitions” on this page.
About 326.3 people per km² (845 per sq mi), derived from the area and population above, whose reference dates may differ. An administrative average does not describe how crowded any particular neighbourhood is.
The island of Kyushu itself, not the seven prefectures of the Kyushu region. Area is the island's own coastline as measured by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan; the seven prefectures together cover 42,228.10 km² because they also include Tsushima, Iki, the Goto Islands, Amakusa, Tanegashima, Yakushima and the Amami Islands. No official body publishes a population for the island alone: this figure is the seven prefectures' 2025 census population (12,373,566) minus every municipality, and every former municipality, that lies wholly on an outlying island. A few small inhabited islands inside mainland municipalities could not be separated, so the figure runs very slightly high. Five of the seven prefecture totals are reference values because of boundary-undetermined zones; the island figure is not affected.
Also written or known as Kyushu Island, Kyūshū. Every one of those names refers to the place measured on this page.
Outline source: © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL · source feature
Read the methodology and data notes