---
title: "France vs Japan — area, population, currency"
description: "France is 643,801 km² with 68,720,337 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/france-vs-japan/
site: "At One Place"
---

# France vs Japan

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

643,801 km² vs 377,915 km² · 68,720,337 vs 123,366,734

France is 1.7 times larger than Japan — 643,801 against 377,915 km². Japan is 1.8 times more populous than France — 123,366,734 against 68,720,337 people.

## Side by side

|  | France | Japan |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capital | Paris | Tokyo |
| Area | 643,801 km² | 377,915 km² |
| Population | 68,720,337 (2025) | 123,366,734 (2025) |
| Density | 106.7 /km² | 326.4 /km² |
| Currency | Euro (EUR) | Japanese yen (JPY) |
| Official languages | French | Japanese |
| Time zones | UTC+01:00 | UTC+09:00 |
| Calling code | +33 | +81 |
| Drives on the | right | left |
| Continent | Europe | Asia |
| ISO codes | FR / FRA | JP / JPN |

## Population density

Japan is 3.1 times more densely populated than France — 326 against 107 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 — France on the right, Japan on the left.
- Different currencies: the Euro and the Japanese yen.
- Different continents — Europe and Asia.

## France

Mont Blanc on the Italian border is 4,806 m, the highest point in western Europe. Counting its overseas departments, France spans twelve time zones — more than any other country — and its exclusive economic zone is the second largest in the world. The Gouffre Mirolda and other Alpine systems make it one of the great caving countries.

## 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 France bigger than Japan?

France is larger — 643,801 km² against 377,915 km².

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

Japan, with 123,366,734 against 68,720,337.

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

France 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

- [France](https://atoneplace.net/country/france/)
- [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/)
- [China vs France](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-france/)
- [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/)

## 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]