Cameroon vs Papua New Guinea

Cameroon and Papua New Guinea are almost exactly the same size.

CameroonPapua New GuineaCameroon moved onto Papua New Guinea · Equal-area projection
1.03×
Cameroon is 1.03× the area of Papua New Guinea.
CameroonPapua New Guinea
Area475,442 km²462,840 km²
Population29,879,33710,762,817
Density63 / km²23 / km²
CapitalYaoundePort Moresby
RegionMiddle AfricaMelanesia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours61

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Cameroon sits at about 6°N and is stretched to 1.01× 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 Cameroon bigger than Papua New Guinea?
Yes. Cameroon and Papua New Guinea are almost exactly the same size. Cameroon covers 475,442 km² and Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km².
How many times does Papua New Guinea fit into Cameroon?
About 1.0 times: Cameroon has 1.03× the area of Papua New Guinea.
Why do Cameroon and Papua New Guinea look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Cameroon is drawn about 1.01× 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, Cameroon or Papua New Guinea?
Cameroon: 29,879,337 people against 10,762,817. Density: Cameroon 63 per km², Papua New Guinea 23 per km².