Bangladesh vs Syria

Syria is 25% larger than Bangladesh.

BangladeshSyriaBangladesh moved onto Syria · Equal-area projection
0.8×
Bangladesh is 0.8× the area of Syria. Put the other way, Syria is 1.25× the size of Bangladesh.
BangladeshSyria
Area147,570 km²185,180 km²
Population175,686,89925,620,427
Density1,191 / km²138 / km²
CapitalDhakaDamascus
RegionSouthern AsiaWestern Asia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours25

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Bangladesh sits at about 24°N and is stretched to 1.2× its true area; Syria at 35° N is stretched to 1.49×. 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 Bangladesh bigger than Syria?
No. Bangladesh is 20% smaller than Syria. Bangladesh covers 147,570 km² and Syria covers 185,180 km².
How many times does Bangladesh fit into Syria?
About 1.3 times: Syria has 1.25× the area of Bangladesh.
Why do Bangladesh and Syria look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Bangladesh is drawn about 1.2× its true area there and Syria about 1.49×. 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, Bangladesh or Syria?
Bangladesh: 175,686,899 people against 25,620,427. Density: Bangladesh 1,191 per km², Syria 138 per km².