---
title: "Japan vs United Kingdom — area, population, currency"
description: "Japan is 377,915 km² with 123,366,734 people; United Kingdom is 243,610 km² with 69,487,000. Area, density, currency, languages and time zones side by side."
url: https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-united-kingdom/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Japan vs United Kingdom

**Japan vs United Kingdom: Japan is larger; Japan has more people**

377,915 km² vs 243,610 km² · 123,366,734 vs 69,487,000

Japan is 1.6 times larger than United Kingdom — 377,915 against 243,610 km². Japan is 1.8 times more populous than United Kingdom — 123,366,734 against 69,487,000 people.

## Side by side

|  | Japan | United Kingdom |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capital | Tokyo | London |
| Area | 377,915 km² | 243,610 km² |
| Population | 123,366,734 (2025) | 69,487,000 (2025) |
| Density | 326.4 /km² | 285.2 /km² |
| Currency | Japanese yen (JPY) | British pound (GBP) |
| Official languages | Japanese | English |
| Time zones | UTC+09:00 | UTC+00:00 |
| Calling code | +81 | +44 |
| Drives on the | left | left |
| Continent | Asia | Europe |
| ISO codes | JP / JPN | GB / GBR |

## Population density

Japan is 1.1 times more densely populated than United Kingdom — 326 against 285 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 Japanese yen and the British pound.
- Different continents — Asia and Europe.

## 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.

## United Kingdom

Made up of Great Britain, the north-east of Ireland and around 6,000 smaller islands. No point in the UK is more than about 113 km from the sea. Ben Nevis, the highest point, is 1,345 m, which is modest — but the country has around 31,000 km of coastline once every inlet is counted.

> 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 United Kingdom?

Japan is larger — 377,915 km² against 243,610 km².

### Which has more people, Japan or United Kingdom?

Japan, with 123,366,734 against 69,487,000.

### What is the time difference between Japan and United Kingdom?

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

## Related pages

- [Japan](https://atoneplace.net/country/japan/)
- [United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/country/united-kingdom/)
- [India vs United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/india-vs-united-kingdom/)
- [India vs Japan](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/india-vs-japan/)
- [China vs United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-united-kingdom/)
- [China vs Japan](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-japan/)
- [United Kingdom vs United States](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/united-kingdom-vs-united-states/)
- [United Kingdom vs Vietnam](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/united-kingdom-vs-vietnam/)
- [United Kingdom vs Vatican City](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/united-kingdom-vs-vatican-city/)
- [United Kingdom vs Venezuela](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/united-kingdom-vs-venezuela/)
- [Japan vs United States](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-united-states/)
- [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/)

## 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]