Bulgaria vs Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is 4.17 times larger than Bulgaria. Bulgaria would fit into Papua New Guinea about 4.2 times.

BulgariaPapua New GuineaBulgaria moved onto Papua New Guinea · Equal-area projection
0.24×
Bulgaria is 0.24× the area of Papua New Guinea. Put the other way, Papua New Guinea is 4.17× the size of Bulgaria.
BulgariaPapua New Guinea
Area110,994 km²462,840 km²
Population6,433,30210,762,817
Density58 / km²23 / km²
CapitalSofiaPort Moresby
RegionEastern EuropeMelanesia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours51

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Bulgaria sits at about 43°N and is stretched to 1.86× its true area; Papua New Guinea at 6° S is stretched to 1.01×. That difference is why Bulgaria looks so much bigger than it is next to Papua New Guinea. The figure above uses the Equal Earth projection, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.

Questions about this pair

Is Bulgaria bigger than Papua New Guinea?
No. Bulgaria is 4.17 times smaller than Papua New Guinea. Bulgaria covers 110,994 km² and Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km².
How many times does Bulgaria fit into Papua New Guinea?
About 4.2 times: Papua New Guinea has 4.17× the area of Bulgaria.
Why do Bulgaria and Papua New Guinea look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Bulgaria is drawn about 1.86× its true area there and Papua New Guinea about 1.01×. That is why Bulgaria looks so much bigger than it really is next to Papua New Guinea. Kartavera uses Equal Earth, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
Which has more people, Bulgaria or Papua New Guinea?
Papua New Guinea: 10,762,817 people against 6,433,302. Density: Bulgaria 58 per km², Papua New Guinea 23 per km².