---
title: "Japan vs Turkey — area, population, currency"
description: "Japan is 377,915 km² with 123,366,734 people; Turkey is 783,562 km² with 85,878,556. Area, density, currency, languages and time zones side by side."
url: https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-turkey/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Japan vs Turkey

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

377,915 km² vs 783,562 km² · 123,366,734 vs 85,878,556

Turkey is 2.1 times larger than Japan — 783,562 against 377,915 km². Japan is 1.4 times more populous than Turkey — 123,366,734 against 85,878,556 people.

## Side by side

|  | Japan | Turkey |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capital | Tokyo | Ankara |
| Area | 377,915 km² | 783,562 km² |
| Population | 123,366,734 (2025) | 85,878,556 (2025) |
| Density | 326.4 /km² | 109.6 /km² |
| Currency | Japanese yen (JPY) | Turkish lira (TRY) |
| Official languages | Japanese | Turkish |
| Time zones | UTC+09:00 | UTC+03:00 |
| Calling code | +81 | +90 |
| Drives on the | left | right |
| Continent | Asia | Asia |
| ISO codes | JP / JPN | TR / TUR |

## Population density

Japan is 3.0 times more densely populated than Turkey — 326 against 110 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 — Japan on the left, Turkey on the right.
- Different currencies: the Japanese yen and the Turkish lira.

## 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.

## Turkey

Istanbul is the only large city built on two continents, split by the Bosphorus. Cappadocia's fairy chimneys are eroded volcanic tuff, and the underground city at Derinkuyu goes down about 85 m over eighteen levels. Pamukkale's white terraces are travertine deposited by hot calcium-rich springs.

> 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 Japan bigger than Turkey?

Turkey is larger — 783,562 km² against 377,915 km².

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

Japan, with 123,366,734 against 85,878,556.

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

Japan is UTC+09:00 and Turkey is UTC+03:00. Daylight saving shifts the gap during the year in places that observe it.

## Related pages

- [Japan](https://atoneplace.net/country/japan/)
- [Turkey](https://atoneplace.net/country/turkey/)
- [India vs Japan](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/india-vs-japan/)
- [India vs Turkey](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/india-vs-turkey/)
- [China vs Japan](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-japan/)
- [China vs Turkey](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-turkey/)
- [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/)

## 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]