---
title: "China vs South Korea — area, population, currency"
description: "China is 9,596,960 km² with 1,406,585,000 people; South Korea is 99,720 km² with 51,684,564. Area, density, currency, languages and time zones side by side."
url: https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-south-korea/
site: "At One Place"
---

# China vs South Korea

**China vs South Korea: China is larger; China has more people**

9,596,960 km² vs 99,720 km² · 1,406,585,000 vs 51,684,564

China is 96 times larger than South Korea — 9,596,960 against 99,720 km². China is 27 times more populous than South Korea — 1,406,585,000 against 51,684,564 people.

## Side by side

|  | China | South Korea |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capital | Beijing | Seoul |
| Area | 9,596,960 km² | 99,720 km² |
| Population | 1,406,585,000 (2025) | 51,684,564 (2025) |
| Density | 146.6 /km² | 518.3 /km² |
| Currency | Chinese yuan (CNY) | South Korean won (KRW) |
| Official languages | Standard Chinese | Korean |
| Time zones | UTC+08:00 | UTC+09:00 |
| Calling code | +86 | +82 |
| Drives on the | right | right |
| Continent | Asia | Asia |
| ISO codes | CN / CHN | KR / KOR |

## Population density

South Korea is 3.5 times more densely populated than China — 518 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

- Different currencies: the Chinese yuan and the South Korean won.

## 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.

## South Korea

About seventy percent mountain, so the population is packed into the valleys and coastal plains; the Seoul metropolitan area holds roughly half the country. Jeju Island is a shield volcano whose lava tube system is among the finest in the world. South Korea has the fastest average internet connections of any large country.

> 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 South Korea?

China is larger — 9,596,960 km² against 99,720 km².

### Which has more people, China or South Korea?

China, with 1,406,585,000 against 51,684,564.

### What is the time difference between China and South Korea?

China is UTC+08:00 and South Korea 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/)
- [South Korea](https://atoneplace.net/country/south-korea/)
- [India vs South Korea](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/india-vs-south-korea/)
- [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 Japan](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-japan/)
- [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/)

## 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]