---
title: "Japan vs Vatican City — area, population, currency"
description: "Japan is 377,915 km² with 123,366,734 people; Vatican City is 0.44 km² with 1,000. Area, density, currency, languages and time zones side by side."
url: https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-vatican-city/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Japan vs Vatican City

**Japan vs Vatican City: Japan is larger; Japan has more people**

377,915 km² vs 0.44 km² · 123,366,734 vs 1,000

Japan is 858898 times larger than Vatican City — 377,915 against 0 km². Japan is 123367 times more populous than Vatican City — 123,366,734 against 1,000 people.

## Side by side

|  | Japan | Vatican City |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capital | Tokyo | Vatican City |
| Area | 377,915 km² | 0.44 km² |
| Population | 123,366,734 (2025) | 1,000 (2024) |
| Density | 326.4 /km² | 2272.7 /km² |
| Currency | Japanese yen (JPY) | Euro (EUR) |
| Official languages | Japanese | Italian, Latin |
| Time zones | UTC+09:00 | UTC+01:00 |
| Calling code | +81 | +3 |
| Drives on the | left | right |
| Continent | Asia | Europe |
| ISO codes | JP / JPN | VA / VAT |

## Population density

Vatican City is 7.0 times more densely populated than Japan — 2,273 against 326 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, Vatican City on the right.
- Different currencies: the Japanese yen and the Euro.
- 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.

## Vatican City

The smallest country in the world by both area and population: about 0.44 km², or roughly an eighth the size of New York's Central Park, with fewer than a thousand residents. Its border with Rome is about 3.4 km long. St Peter's Basilica covers around 15,000 m² and is one of the largest churches ever built.

> 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 Vatican City?

Japan is larger — 377,915 km² against 0.44 km².

### Which has more people, Japan or Vatican City?

Japan, with 123,366,734 against 1,000.

### What is the time difference between Japan and Vatican City?

Japan is UTC+09:00 and Vatican City is UTC+01:00. Daylight saving shifts the gap during the year in places that observe it.

## Related pages

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

## 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]