China vs Nepal

China is 65 times larger than Nepal — 9,596,960 against 147,181 km². China is 47 times more populous than Nepal — 1,406,585,000 against 29,618,118 people.

Side by side

Population density

Nepal is 1.4 times more densely populated than China — 201 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, Nepal on the left.
• Different currencies: the Chinese yuan and the Nepalese rupee.

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.

Nepal

Eight of the world's fourteen peaks above 8,000 m are here, including Everest at 8,849 m on the Chinese border. Elevation runs from 59 m in the southern plains to the top of the world in about 200 km. Nepal keeps its clock 5 hours 45 minutes ahead of UTC — the only country whose national standard time sits on a 45-minute offset.

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.