Canada vs Costa Rica
Canada is 195 times larger than Costa Rica. Costa Rica would fit into Canada about 195 times.
CanadaCosta RicaCanada moved onto Costa Rica · Equal-area projection
195×
Canada is 195× the area of Costa Rica.
 Canada |  Costa Rica | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| AreaCanada: 195× the area | 9,984,670 km²#2 of 194 | 51,180 km²#126 of 194 |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Land neighbours | 1 | 2 |
| People | ||
| PopulationCanada: 8.08× the population | 41,651,653#38 of 194 · 2025 | 5,152,950#125 of 194 · 2025 |
| DensityCosta Rica: 24.1× the density | 4.2 / km²#188 of 194 | 101 / km²#88 of 194 |
| Urban populationCanada: 1.04× the urban share | 83%#36 of 192 · 2025 | 80%#43 of 192 · 2025 |
| Fertility rateCosta Rica: 1.06× the births per woman | 1.25 per woman#171 of 192 · 2024 | 1.32 per woman#168 of 192 · 2024 |
| Population growthCanada: 0.49 points higher | +0.94%#100 of 192 · 2025 | +0.45%#133 of 192 · 2025 |
| Birth rateCosta Rica: 1.12× the birth rate | 8.9 per 1,000#157 of 192 · 2024 | 10.0 per 1,000#140 of 192 · 2024 |
| Death rateCanada: 1.41× the death rate | 7.9 per 1,000#72 of 192 · 2024 | 5.6 per 1,000#154 of 192 · 2024 |
| Children under 15Costa Rica: 3.3 points higher | 15.0%#162 of 192 · 2025 | 18.3%#124 of 192 · 2025 |
| People over 65Canada: 7.5 points higher | 20.3%#30 of 192 · 2025 | 12.8%#63 of 192 · 2025 |
| Net migrationCanada: 7.6 per 1,000 higher | +7.8 per 1,000#11 of 192 · 2025 | +0.2 per 1,000#68 of 192 · 2025 |
| Refugees abroadCosta Rica: 7.0× the refugees for its size | 0.01 per 1,000#155 of 190 · 2025 | 0.07 per 1,000#126 of 190 · 2025 |
| Health & education | ||
| Life expectancyCanada: 1.1 years longer | 82.1 years#28 of 192 · 2024 | 81.0 years#38 of 192 · 2024 |
| Infant mortalityCosta Rica: 1.94× the infant mortality | 4.7 per 1,000 births#144 of 191 · 2024 | 9.1 per 1,000 births#115 of 191 · 2024 |
| DoctorsCanada: 1.05× the doctors per person | 2.82 per 1,000#65 of 178 · 2023 | 2.69 per 1,000#68 of 178 · 2022 |
| University enrolment | 76.3%#36 of 145 · 2023 | — |
| Human Development IndexCanada: 0.106 higher | 0.939#15 of 190 · 2023 | 0.833#61 of 190 · 2023 |
| Economy | ||
| GNI per capitaCanada: 3.15× the income per person | $56,420#16 of 185 · 2025 | $17,930#59 of 185 · 2025 |
| GDPCanada: 22.5× the economy | $2.32T2025 | $102.91B2025 |
| Income group | High income | High income |
| GDP per capita (PPP)Canada: 1.97× the output per person | $66,746#24 of 184 · 2025 | $33,815#65 of 184 · 2025 |
| GDP growthCosta Rica: 2.9 points higher | +1.7%#141 of 187 · 2025 | +4.6%#51 of 187 · 2025 |
| InflationCanada: 2.2 points higher | +2.1%#116 of 176 · 2025 | −0.1%#164 of 176 · 2025 |
| UnemploymentAbout the same unemployment | 6.9%#58 of 178 · 2025 | 6.8%#60 of 178 · 2025 |
| Extreme povertyCosta Rica: 2.67× the share in extreme poverty | 0.3%#116 of 149 · 2022 | 0.8%#92 of 149 · 2025 |
| Income inequality (Gini)Costa Rica: 14.0 higher | 31.5#107 of 149 · 2022 | 45.5#14 of 149 · 2025 |
| Jobs in agricultureCosta Rica: 10.4 points higher | 1.1% of jobs#169 of 178 · 2025 | 11.5% of jobs#103 of 178 · 2025 |
| Jobs in industryCanada: 0.2 points higher | 18.7% of jobs#96 of 178 · 2025 | 18.5% of jobs#98 of 178 · 2025 |
| Jobs in servicesCanada: 10.1 points higher | 80.1% of jobs#13 of 178 · 2025 | 70.0% of jobs#52 of 178 · 2025 |
| Foreign investmentCosta Rica: 2.4 points higher | 3.0% of GDP#65 of 184 · 2025 | 5.4% of GDP#34 of 184 · 2025 |
| ExportsCosta Rica: 7.5 points higher | 31.3% of GDP#100 of 168 · 2025 | 38.8% of GDP#77 of 168 · 2025 |
| Military spending | 1.6% of GDP#80 of 155 · 2025 | 0.0% of GDP#153 of 155 · 2025 |
| Internet usersCanada: 1.08× the share online | 94%#28 of 184 · 2024 | 87%#72 of 184 · 2024 |
| Mobile subscriptionsCosta Rica: 1.45× the mobile subscriptions | 94 per 100#137 of 191 · 2024 | 136 per 100#42 of 191 · 2024 |
| Energy & environment | ||
| Forest areaCosta Rica: 1.41× the forest share | 42% of land#62 of 192 · 2024 | 59% of land#28 of 192 · 2024 |
| CO₂ per personCanada: 8.6× the CO₂ per person | 14.0 t a year#11 of 185 · 2024 | 1.63 t a year#110 of 185 · 2024 |
| Renewable energyCosta Rica: 10.4 points higher | 23.8%#96 of 190 · 2021 | 34.2%#72 of 190 · 2021 |
| Access to electricityCanada: 0.2 points higher | 100.0%#1 of 192 · 2024 | 99.8%#103 of 192 · 2024 |
| Air pollution (PM2.5)Costa Rica: 2.68× the air pollution | 6.6 µg/m³#176 of 191 · 2023 | 17.7 µg/m³#99 of 191 · 2023 |
| Protected landCosta Rica: 13.7 points higher | 12.9% of land#131 of 191 · 2025 | 26.6% of land#49 of 191 · 2025 |
| Arable landCanada: 1.0 points higher | 4.3% of land#134 of 190 · 2024 | 3.3% of land#146 of 190 · 2024 |
| Water stressCosta Rica: 1.59× the water stress | 3.7%#132 of 176 · 2022 | 5.9%#112 of 176 · 2022 |
| PrecipitationCosta Rica: 5.45× the rain and snow | 537 mm#138 of 180 · 2022 | 2,926 mm#6 of 180 · 2022 |
| Governance & safety | ||
| Political stabilityCosta Rica: 0.41 higher | +0.81#48 of 193 · 2025 | +1.22#19 of 193 · 2025 |
| Control of corruptionCanada: 0.90 higher | +1.59#15 of 193 · 2025 | +0.69#46 of 193 · 2025 |
| Homicide rateCosta Rica: 8.85× the homicide rate | 2.0 per 100,000#80 of 146 · 2023 | 17.7 per 100,000#19 of 146 · 2023 |
| State | ||
| Status | Independent state | Independent state |
| Government | Constitutional monarchyfederal parliamentary democracy (Parliament of Canada) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm; federal and state authorities and responsibilities regulated in constitution | Presidential republic |
| Member of | NATO, OECD, G7, G20 | OECD |
| Capital | Ottawa | San Jose |
| Currency | Canadian dollar (CAD) | Costa Rican colón (CRC) |
| Official languages | English, French | Spanish |
| Traffic drives | On the right | On the right |
| Time zone | UTC−5, summer time UTC−4 · UTC−8 to UTC−3:30, 6 time zones | UTC−6 |
| Calling code | +1 | +506 |
| Region | Northern America, North America | Central America, North America |
Area: Wikidata. Population, income, health, economy, environment and governance: World Bank. Human Development Index: UNDP. Government: CIA World Factbook. Ranks among the 194 independent states. All sources
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Canada sits at about 60° N and is stretched to 4.1× its true area; Costa Rica at 10° N is stretched to 1.03×. That difference is why Canada looks so much bigger than it is next to Costa Rica. The figure above uses the Equal Earth projection, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
Questions about this pair
- Is Canada bigger than Costa Rica?
- Yes. Canada is 195 times larger than Costa Rica. Canada covers 9,984,670 km² and Costa Rica covers 51,180 km².
- How many times does Costa Rica fit into Canada?
- About 195 times: Canada has 195× the area of Costa Rica.
- Why do Canada and Costa Rica look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Canada is drawn about 4.1× its true area there and Costa Rica about 1.03×. That is why Canada looks so much bigger than it really is next to Costa Rica. Kartavera uses Equal Earth, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
- Which has more people, Canada or Costa Rica?
- Canada: 41,651,653 people against 5,152,950. Density: Canada 4.2 per km², Costa Rica 101 per km².
- Which is richer, Canada or Costa Rica?
- By gross national income per person, Canada: $56,420 against $17,930 (World Bank, Atlas method, 2025) — 3.15× as much.
- Where do people live longer, Canada or Costa Rica?
- In Canada: life expectancy at birth is 82.1 years, against 81.0 — 1.1 years longer (World Bank, 2024).
- What kind of government do Canada and Costa Rica have?
- By constitution, as the CIA World Factbook describes them — Canada: constitutional monarchy; Costa Rica: presidential republic.