---
title: "China vs Japan — area, population, currency"
description: "China is 9,596,960 km² with 1,406,585,000 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/china-vs-japan/
site: "At One Place"
---

# China vs Japan

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

9,596,960 km² vs 377,915 km² · 1,406,585,000 vs 123,366,734

China is 25 times larger than Japan — 9,596,960 against 377,915 km². China is 11 times more populous than Japan — 1,406,585,000 against 123,366,734 people.

## Side by side

|  | China | Japan |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capital | Beijing | Tokyo |
| Area | 9,596,960 km² | 377,915 km² |
| Population | 1,406,585,000 (2025) | 123,366,734 (2025) |
| Density | 146.6 /km² | 326.4 /km² |
| Currency | Chinese yuan (CNY) | Japanese yen (JPY) |
| Official languages | Standard Chinese | Japanese |
| Time zones | UTC+08:00 | UTC+09:00 |
| Calling code | +86 | +81 |
| Drives on the | right | left |
| Continent | Asia | Asia |
| ISO codes | CN / CHN | JP / JPN |

## Population density

Japan is 2.2 times more densely populated than China — 326 against 147 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 — China on the right, Japan on the left.
- Different currencies: the Chinese yuan and the Japanese yen.

## China

The largest country in the world using a single time zone, so the sun rises in the far west around three hours later by the clock than in Beijing. China has a land border with fourteen countries — more than any other state except Russia, which also has fourteen. Its terrain runs from Mount Everest on the Nepalese border to the Turpan Depression at 154 m below sea level.

## 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 China bigger than Japan?

China is larger — 9,596,960 km² against 377,915 km².

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

China, with 1,406,585,000 against 123,366,734.

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

China is UTC+08:00 and Japan is UTC+09:00. Daylight saving shifts the gap during the year in places that observe it.

## Related pages

- [China](https://atoneplace.net/country/china/)
- [Japan](https://atoneplace.net/country/japan/)
- [India vs Japan](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/india-vs-japan/)
- [China vs United States](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-united-states/)
- [China vs India](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-india/)
- [China vs United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-united-kingdom/)
- [China vs New Zealand](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-new-zealand/)
- [China vs France](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-france/)
- [China vs Germany](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-germany/)
- [China vs Italy](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-italy/)
- [China vs Russia](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-russia/)
- [China vs Mexico](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-mexico/)
- [China vs Spain](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-spain/)
- [China vs Egypt](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-egypt/)

## 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]