Chagos Islands vs Gabon

Gabon is 4,461 times larger than Chagos Islands. Chagos Islands would fit into Gabon about 4461 times.

Chagos IslandsGabonChagos Islands moved onto Gabon · Equal-area projection
0.0×
Chagos Islands is 0.0× the area of Gabon. Put the other way, Gabon is 4,461× the size of Chagos Islands.
Chagos IslandsGabon
Area60 km²267,667 km²
Population3,0002,593,130
Density50 / km²9.7 / km²
CapitalDiego GarciaLibreville
RegionSeven seas (open ocean)Middle Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours03

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; Gabon at 1° S is stretched to 1.0×. 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 Chagos Islands bigger than Gabon?
No. Chagos Islands is 4,461 times smaller than Gabon. Chagos Islands covers 60 km² and Gabon covers 267,667 km².
How many times does Chagos Islands fit into Gabon?
About 4461 times: Gabon has 4,461× the area of Chagos Islands.
Why do Chagos Islands and Gabon 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 Gabon about 1.0×. 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 Gabon?
Gabon: 2,593,130 people against 3,000. Density: Chagos Islands 50 per km², Gabon 9.7 per km².