Bolivia vs Ethiopia

Ethiopia and Bolivia are almost exactly the same size.

BoliviaEthiopiaBolivia moved onto Ethiopia · Equal-area projection
0.99×
Bolivia is 0.99× the area of Ethiopia. Put the other way, Ethiopia is 1.01× the size of Bolivia.
BoliviaEthiopia
Area1,098,581 km²1,104,300 km²
Population12,581,843135,472,051
Density11 / km²123 / km²
CapitalLa PazAddis Ababa
RegionSouth AmericaEastern Africa
CoastlineLandlockedLandlocked
Neighbours57

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Bolivia sits at about 17°S and is stretched to 1.09× its true area; Ethiopia at 9° N is stretched to 1.02×. 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 Bolivia bigger than Ethiopia?
No. Bolivia and Ethiopia are almost exactly the same size. Bolivia covers 1,098,581 km² and Ethiopia covers 1,104,300 km².
How many times does Bolivia fit into Ethiopia?
About 1.0 times: Ethiopia has 1.01× the area of Bolivia.
Why do Bolivia and Ethiopia look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Bolivia is drawn about 1.09× its true area there and Ethiopia about 1.02×. 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, Bolivia or Ethiopia?
Ethiopia: 135,472,051 people against 12,581,843. Density: Bolivia 11 per km², Ethiopia 123 per km².