Cambodia vs Syria

Syria and Cambodia are almost exactly the same size.

CambodiaSyriaCambodia moved onto Syria · Equal-area projection
0.98×
Cambodia is 0.98× the area of Syria. Put the other way, Syria is 1.02× the size of Cambodia.
CambodiaSyria
Area181,035 km²185,180 km²
Population17,847,98225,620,427
Density99 / km²138 / km²
CapitalPhnom PenhDamascus
RegionSouth-Eastern AsiaWestern Asia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours35

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Cambodia sits at about 13°N and is stretched to 1.05× its true area; Syria at 35° N is stretched to 1.49×. 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 Cambodia bigger than Syria?
No. Cambodia and Syria are almost exactly the same size. Cambodia covers 181,035 km² and Syria covers 185,180 km².
How many times does Cambodia fit into Syria?
About 1.0 times: Syria has 1.02× the area of Cambodia.
Why do Cambodia and Syria look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Cambodia is drawn about 1.05× its true area there and Syria about 1.49×. 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, Cambodia or Syria?
Syria: 25,620,427 people against 17,847,982. Density: Cambodia 99 per km², Syria 138 per km².