Bulgaria vs Portugal

Bulgaria is 20% larger than Portugal.

BulgariaPortugalBulgaria moved onto Portugal · Equal-area projection
1.2×
Bulgaria is 1.2× the area of Portugal.
BulgariaPortugal
Area110,994 km²92,225 km²
Population6,433,30210,804,871
Density58 / km²117 / km²
CapitalSofiaLisbon
RegionEastern EuropeSouthern Europe
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; Portugal at 40° N is stretched to 1.68×. 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 Bulgaria bigger than Portugal?
Yes. Bulgaria is 20% larger than Portugal. Bulgaria covers 110,994 km² and Portugal covers 92,225 km².
How many times does Portugal fit into Bulgaria?
About 1.2 times: Bulgaria has 1.2× the area of Portugal.
Why do Bulgaria and Portugal 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 Portugal about 1.68×. 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, Bulgaria or Portugal?
Portugal: 10,804,871 people against 6,433,302. Density: Bulgaria 58 per km², Portugal 117 per km².