Botswana vs Papua New Guinea
Botswana is 26% larger than Papua New Guinea.
BotswanaPapua New GuineaBotswana moved onto Papua New Guinea · Equal-area projection
1.26×
Botswana is 1.26× the area of Papua New Guinea.
| Botswana | Papua New Guinea | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 581,737 km² | 462,840 km² |
| Population | 2,562,122 | 10,762,817 |
| Density | 4.4 / km² | 23 / km² |
| Capital | Gaborone | Port Moresby |
| Region | Southern Africa | Melanesia |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 3 | 1 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Botswana sits at about 22°S and is stretched to 1.17× 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 Botswana bigger than Papua New Guinea?
- Yes. Botswana is 26% larger than Papua New Guinea. Botswana covers 581,737 km² and Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km².
- How many times does Papua New Guinea fit into Botswana?
- About 1.3 times: Botswana has 1.26× the area of Papua New Guinea.
- Why do Botswana and Papua New Guinea look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Botswana is drawn about 1.17× 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, Botswana or Papua New Guinea?
- Papua New Guinea: 10,762,817 people against 2,562,122. Density: Botswana 4.4 per km², Papua New Guinea 23 per km².