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Chagos Islands vs French Polynesia

French Polynesia is 69.5 times larger than Chagos Islands. Chagos Islands would fit into French Polynesia about 69 times.

Chagos IslandsFrench PolynesiaChagos Islands moved onto French Polynesia · Equal-area projection
0.01×
Chagos Islands is 0.01× the area of French Polynesia. Put the other way, French Polynesia is 69.5× the size of Chagos Islands.
Chagos IslandsFrench Polynesia
Area60 km²4,167 km²
Population3,000282,465
Density50 / km²68 / km²
CapitalDiego GarciaPapeete
RegionSeven seas (open ocean)Polynesia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours00

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Chagos Islands sits at about 7°S and is stretched to 1.02× its true area; French Polynesia at 15° S is stretched to 1.07×. 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.

Open in the atlasLay French Polynesia over Chagos Islands

Questions about this pair

Is Chagos Islands bigger than French Polynesia?
No. Chagos Islands is 69.5 times smaller than French Polynesia. Chagos Islands covers 60 km² and French Polynesia covers 4,167 km².
How many times does Chagos Islands fit into French Polynesia?
About 69 times: French Polynesia has 69.5× the area of Chagos Islands.
Why do Chagos Islands and French Polynesia look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Chagos Islands is drawn about 1.02× its true area there and French Polynesia about 1.07×. 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, Chagos Islands or French Polynesia?
French Polynesia: 282,465 people against 3,000. Density: Chagos Islands 50 per km², French Polynesia 68 per km².
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