Afghanistan vs Papua New Guinea

Afghanistan is 41% larger than Papua New Guinea.

AfghanistanPapua New GuineaAfghanistan moved onto Papua New Guinea · Equal-area projection
1.41×
Afghanistan is 1.41× the area of Papua New Guinea.
AfghanistanPapua New Guinea
Area652,230 km²462,840 km²
Population43,844,11110,762,817
Density67 / km²23 / km²
CapitalKabulPort Moresby
RegionSouthern AsiaMelanesia
CoastlineLandlockedHas a coast
Neighbours61

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Afghanistan sits at about 34°N and is stretched to 1.45× its true area; Papua New Guinea at 6° S is stretched to 1.01×. Here the two are distorted about the same amount, so Mercator gets this pair roughly right. The figure above uses the Equal Earth projection, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.

Questions about this pair

Is Afghanistan bigger than Papua New Guinea?
Yes. Afghanistan is 41% larger than Papua New Guinea. Afghanistan covers 652,230 km² and Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km².
How many times does Papua New Guinea fit into Afghanistan?
About 1.4 times: Afghanistan has 1.41× the area of Papua New Guinea.
Why do Afghanistan and Papua New Guinea look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Afghanistan is drawn about 1.45× its true area there and Papua New Guinea about 1.01×. For this pair the distortion is similar, so Mercator gets the comparison roughly right. Kartavera uses Equal Earth, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
Which has more people, Afghanistan or Papua New Guinea?
Afghanistan: 43,844,111 people against 10,762,817. Density: Afghanistan 67 per km², Papua New Guinea 23 per km².