Chagos Islands vs Macao
Macao is 92% larger than Chagos Islands. Chagos Islands would fit into Macao about 1.9 times.
Chagos IslandsMacaoChagos Islands moved onto Macao · Equal-area projection
0.52×
Chagos Islands is 0.52× the area of Macao. Put the other way, Macao is 1.92× the size of Chagos Islands.
| Chagos Islands | Macao | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 60 km² | 115 km² |
| Population | 3,000 | 685,900 |
| Density | 50 / km² | 5,964 / km² |
| Capital | Diego Garcia | — |
| Region | Seven seas (open ocean) | Eastern Asia |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 0 | 1 |
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; Macao at 22° N is stretched to 1.17×. 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 Macao?
- No. Chagos Islands is 48% smaller than Macao. Chagos Islands covers 60 km² and Macao covers 115 km².
- How many times does Chagos Islands fit into Macao?
- About 1.9 times: Macao has 1.92× the area of Chagos Islands.
- Why do Chagos Islands and Macao 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 Macao about 1.17×. 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 Macao?
- Macao: 685,900 people against 3,000. Density: Chagos Islands 50 per km², Macao 5,964 per km².