Hong Kong
1,114 km²
Shanghai
6,341 km²
China
China
Area Comparison
Hong Kong is 5.7x smaller than Shanghai
Population Comparison
Hong Kong has 3.4x fewer people than Shanghai
Yes — Shanghai is 5.7x larger than Hong Kong by area. Shanghai spans 6,341 km² (2,448 mi²) while Hong Kong covers 1,114 km² (430 mi²) — a difference of 5,227 km². You could fit Hong Kong inside Shanghai approximately 5 times.
To put Hong Kong's size in perspective, its area of 1,114 km² is about 1.2x the size of Berlin. Meanwhile, Shanghai at 6,341 km² is about 1.5x the size of Los Angeles metro.
Picture Hong Kong another way: its area is large enough to fit about 156,000 American football fields, 19 times the area of Manhattan, or 11 times the area of Paris. Shanghai works out to about 888,000 American football fields, 110 times the area of Manhattan, or 60 times the area of Paris.
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. Situated on China's southern coast just south of Shenzhen, it consists of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories. With 7.5 million residents in a 1,114-square-kilometre (430 sq mi) territory, Hong Kong is the fourth-most densely populated region in the world.
Known as "Pearl of the Orient", Hong Kong covers 1,114 km² with a population of 7.4 million. The city was established in 1841. Hong Kong is known for Victoria Harbour, Victoria Peak, Star Ferry, among other attractions. The city's main transit system is the MTR Hong Kong.
Hong Kong squeezes 7.5 million residents into 1,114 km2, making it the world's fourth-most densely populated region.
Shanghai is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. It has a population of 29,558,908 in the urban area as of 2025. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River bisecting the city. Shanghai is a global center for finance, business and economics, research, science and technology, manufacturing, transportation, tourism, and culture. The Port of Shanghai is the world's busiest container port.
Also known as "Pearl of the Orient", Shanghai has an area of 6,341 km² and is home to 24.9 million people. The city dates back to 1291. Visitors come for The Bund, Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai Tower, and much more. Getting around is easy with the Shanghai Metro.
Shanghai's urban population reached 29.5 million in 2025, making it the most populous urban area in all of China.
Hong Kong has a population density of 6,652 people per km² — a densely populated city. Shanghai, with 3,922 people per km², is a moderately dense city. Hong Kong is noticeably denser, packing 1.7 times more people per square kilometer.
Both Hong Kong and Shanghai are in China, making this a domestic size comparison that reveals how differently cities can develop within the same nation.
Both cities share a humid subtropical climate, though local geography creates distinct microclimates in each.
Size Ratio
Hong Kong fits inside Shanghai ~5 times
Density Gap
Hong Kong is 1.7x more densely populated
History
Shanghai is ~550 years older
Hong Kong covers 1,114 km². Cities with a similar urban footprint include Lagos (1,172 km²), San Antonio (1,209 km²), Rio de Janeiro (1,221 km²), Dallas (997 km²), or Abu Dhabi (972 km²).
Shanghai covers 6,341 km². Cities with a similar urban footprint include Perth (6,417 km²), Istanbul (5,461 km²), Guangzhou (7,434 km²), Wuhan (8,569 km²), or Dubai (4,114 km²).
The straight-line distance from Hong Kong to Shanghai is 1,227 km (762 miles), with an estimated flight time of ~1h 57m.
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