Brunei vs Costa Rica

Costa Rica is 8.88 times larger than Brunei. Brunei would fit into Costa Rica about 8.9 times.

BruneiCosta RicaBrunei moved onto Costa Rica · Equal-area projection
0.11×
Brunei is 0.11× the area of Costa Rica. Put the other way, Costa Rica is 8.88× the size of Brunei.
BruneiCosta Rica
Area5,765 km²51,180 km²
Population466,3305,152,950
Density81 / km²101 / km²
CapitalBandar Seri BegawanSan Jose
RegionSouth-Eastern AsiaCentral America
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours12

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Brunei sits at about 5°N and is stretched to 1.01× its true area; Costa Rica at 10° N is stretched to 1.03×. 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 Brunei bigger than Costa Rica?
No. Brunei is 8.88 times smaller than Costa Rica. Brunei covers 5,765 km² and Costa Rica covers 51,180 km².
How many times does Brunei fit into Costa Rica?
About 8.9 times: Costa Rica has 8.88× the area of Brunei.
Why do Brunei and Costa Rica look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Brunei is drawn about 1.01× its true area there and Costa Rica about 1.03×. 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, Brunei or Costa Rica?
Costa Rica: 5,152,950 people against 466,330. Density: Brunei 81 per km², Costa Rica 101 per km².