---
title: "Belgium vs Japan — area, population, currency"
description: "Belgium is 30,528 km² with 11,941,781 people; Japan is 377,915 km² with 123,366,734. Area, density, currency, languages and time zones side by side."
url: https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/belgium-vs-japan/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Belgium vs Japan

**Belgium vs Japan: Japan is larger; Japan has more people**

30,528 km² vs 377,915 km² · 11,941,781 vs 123,366,734

Japan is 12 times larger than Belgium — 377,915 against 30,528 km². Japan is 10 times more populous than Belgium — 123,366,734 against 11,941,781 people.

## Side by side

|  | Belgium | Japan |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capital | Brussels | Tokyo |
| Area | 30,528 km² | 377,915 km² |
| Population | 11,941,781 (2025) | 123,366,734 (2025) |
| Density | 391.2 /km² | 326.4 /km² |
| Currency | Euro (EUR) | Japanese yen (JPY) |
| Official languages | Dutch, French, German | Japanese |
| Time zones | UTC+01:00 | UTC+09:00 |
| Calling code | +32 | +81 |
| Drives on the | right | left |
| Continent | Europe | Asia |
| ISO codes | BE / BEL | JP / JPN |

## Population density

Belgium is 1.2 times more densely populated than Japan — 391 against 326 people per km². Density is where area and population interact, and it often reverses the impression the headline figures give — a large country with a small population can feel emptier than a small crowded one by an enormous margin.

## Practical differences

- They drive on opposite sides — Belgium on the right, Japan on the left.
- Different currencies: the Euro and the Japanese yen.
- Different continents — Europe and Asia.

## Belgium

One of the most densely populated countries in Europe, and one of the most brightly lit — its motorway lighting was long visible from orbit as a distinct grid. The Signal de Botrange, its highest point, is only 694 m. Antwerp handles the majority of the world's rough diamond trade.

## Japan

A 2023 government survey using digital mapping counted 14,125 islands, more than double the long-quoted figure of 6,852. About three-quarters of the land is mountain, so nearly everyone lives on a narrow band of coastal plain. Japan sits where four tectonic plates meet and records a fifth of the world's magnitude-6-and-above earthquakes.

> Neutral facts only. Nothing here addresses politics, government, economics or which country is preferable in any respect — population is the one figure that dates, and it carries its year.

## Common questions

### Is Belgium bigger than Japan?

Japan is larger — 377,915 km² against 30,528 km².

### Which has more people, Belgium or Japan?

Japan, with 123,366,734 against 11,941,781.

### What is the time difference between Belgium and Japan?

Belgium is UTC+01:00 and Japan is UTC+09:00. Daylight saving shifts the gap during the year in places that observe it.

## Related pages

- [Belgium](https://atoneplace.net/country/belgium/)
- [Japan](https://atoneplace.net/country/japan/)
- [India vs Japan](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/india-vs-japan/)
- [China vs Japan](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-japan/)
- [Japan vs United States](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-united-states/)
- [Japan vs United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-united-kingdom/)
- [Japan vs New Zealand](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-new-zealand/)
- [Japan vs Russia](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-russia/)
- [Japan vs Mexico](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-mexico/)
- [Japan vs Spain](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-spain/)
- [Japan vs South Korea](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-south-korea/)
- [Japan vs Netherlands](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-netherlands/)
- [Japan vs Nigeria](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-nigeria/)
- [Japan vs Turkey](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-turkey/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]
- World Bank Open Data — The World Bank (https://data.worldbank.org/) [CC BY 4.0]