South Korea covers 100,459.9 km² (38,788 sq mi) of land and had a population of 51.8 million in 2024, about 516 people per km² (1,336 per sq mi). In more familiar terms, it is about the size of Virginia.
Calculated from the population and area above; their reference dates may differ.
On a familiar scale
≈ the size of Virginia (reference rung)
The closest rung on the US reference ladder (Census Bureau land area); see the sources below.
Land per resident
1,939 m² of land per resident
The inverse of population density, from the same area and population figures.
The outline is fitted to this frame, not a map for measuring distances. Outlying islands may make the main landmass appear smaller.
Change the yardstick
South Korea is “how many times” what?
The multiples on this site default to Taiwan. Pick a place you know and the area, population and density are recalculated against it; your choice is remembered in this browser and carries to other pages.
5,440 people per km² 10.5 times the territory-wide average
The eleven developed land categories that the land ministry itself groups as built infrastructure in its cadastral statistics: building sites and school sites; factory and warehouse sites; roads, railway land, parking lots and filling stations; parks, sports grounds and amusement grounds. Roads alone are more than a third of the total. Forest covers about 63% of the country and farmland a further 19%, and both are excluded, as are miscellaneous land, cemeteries and religious sites. A cadastral category records a parcel’s registered principal use, not measured built surface, so a building site includes the yard around it.
On the other defensible cut (building sites only): 3,420.9 km², 3.4%
Register-based census population, including Korean and foreign residents; registered cadastral land area.
Average administrative density does not describe population distribution in every neighborhood. Compare population definitions and reference dates alongside the numbers.
South Korea is shown as the complete Republic of Korea, not Seoul or the Seoul Capital Area. The national outline and statistics provide a country-scale counterpart to Taiwan.
National geography and settlement
The country includes mountainous interiors, coastal plains, metropolitan cities and islands. A national average combines all of them and therefore looks different from the intensity of the capital region.
Comparing it with Taiwan shows that similar settlement constraints do not produce identical land-per-person results.
Population system
The register-based census includes Korean and foreign residents. That definition is broader than Taiwan’s registered-population figure in a specific way, so the note should accompany precise ratios.
Dates and definitions are visible because official does not automatically mean directly interchangeable.
Questions people ask
About South Korea’s area and population
How big is South Korea?
South Korea covers 100,459.9 km², or 38,788 sq mi (reference date 2024-12-31). In US terms: ≈ the size of Virginia.
What is the population of South Korea?
51.8 million — 51,805,547 as of 2024-11-01. The scope of that count is set out under “Scope and definitions” on this page.
What is the population density of South Korea?
About 515.7 people per km² (1,336 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.
What do these South Korea figures include?
Register-based census population, including Korean and foreign residents; registered cadastral land area.