Chagos Islands vs Maldives
Maldives is 4.97 times larger than Chagos Islands. Chagos Islands would fit into Maldives about 5.0 times.
Chagos IslandsMaldivesChagos Islands moved onto Maldives · Equal-area projection
0.2×
Chagos Islands is 0.2× the area of Maldives. Put the other way, Maldives is 4.97× the size of Chagos Islands.
 Chagos Islands |  Maldives | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| AreaMaldives: 4.97× the area | 60 km² | 298 km²#187 of 194 |
| Coastline | Coast, no land border | Coast, no land border |
| Land neighbours | 0 | 0 |
| People | ||
| PopulationMaldives: 177× the population | 3,0002018 | 529,676#167 of 194 · 2025 |
| DensityMaldives: 35.5× the density | 50 / km² | 1,777 / km²#6 of 194 |
| Urban population | — | 43%#145 of 192 · 2025 |
| Fertility rate | — | 1.56 per woman#127 of 192 · 2024 |
| Population growth | — | +0.35%#141 of 192 · 2025 |
| Birth rate | — | 10.6 per 1,000#132 of 192 · 2024 |
| Death rate | — | 2.4 per 1,000#186 of 192 · 2024 |
| Children under 15 | — | 19.0%#119 of 192 · 2025 |
| People over 65 | — | 5.0%#123 of 192 · 2025 |
| Net migration | — | −4.3 per 1,000#171 of 192 · 2025 |
| Refugees abroad | — | 0.12 per 1,000#113 of 190 · 2025 |
| Health & education | ||
| Life expectancy | — | 81.3 years#37 of 192 · 2024 |
| Infant mortality | — | 4.7 per 1,000 births#144 of 191 · 2024 |
| Doctors | — | 2.24 per 1,000#80 of 178 · 2019 |
| University enrolment | — | 48.5%#77 of 145 · 2022 |
| Human Development Index | — | 0.766#92 of 190 · 2023 |
| Economy | ||
| GNI per capita | — | $12,950#72 of 185 · 2025 |
| GDP | — | $7.74B2025 |
| Income group | — | Upper-middle income |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | — | $28,555#72 of 184 · 2025 |
| GDP growth | — | +6.3%#26 of 187 · 2025 |
| Inflation | — | +4.0%#55 of 176 · 2025 |
| Unemployment | — | 4.5%#106 of 178 · 2025 |
| Extreme poverty | — | 0.0%#136 of 149 · 2019 |
| Income inequality (Gini) | — | 29.3#125 of 149 · 2019 |
| Jobs in agriculture | — | 11.3% of jobs#105 of 178 · 2025 |
| Jobs in industry | — | 16.9% of jobs#115 of 178 · 2025 |
| Jobs in services | — | 71.8% of jobs#44 of 178 · 2025 |
| Foreign investment | — | 11.1% of GDP#12 of 184 · 2025 |
| Exports | — | 78.2% of GDP#16 of 168 · 2024 |
| Internet users | — | 85%#78 of 184 · 2024 |
| Mobile subscriptions | — | 148 per 100#28 of 191 · 2024 |
| Energy & environment | ||
| Forest area | — | 13% of land#140 of 192 · 2024 |
| CO₂ per person | — | 3.57 t a year#73 of 185 · 2024 |
| Renewable energy | — | 1.2%#172 of 190 · 2022 |
| Access to electricity | — | 100.0%#1 of 192 · 2024 |
| Air pollution (PM2.5) | — | 11.2 µg/m³#145 of 191 · 2023 |
| Protected land | — | 3.0% of land#176 of 191 · 2025 |
| Arable land | — | 13.1% of land#79 of 190 · 2024 |
| Water stress | — | 15.7%#74 of 176 · 2022 |
| Precipitation | — | 1,972 mm#35 of 180 · 2022 |
| Governance & safety | ||
| Political stability | — | +0.08#100 of 193 · 2025 |
| Control of corruption | — | −0.33#105 of 193 · 2025 |
| Homicide rate | — | 0.6 per 100,000#132 of 146 · 2019 |
| State | ||
| Status | Territory of United Kingdom | Independent state |
| Government | Dependent territory | Presidential republic |
| Capital | Diego Garcia | Male |
| Currency | United States dollar (USD), Pound sterling (GBP) | Maldivian rufiyaa (MVR) |
| Official languages | English | Maldivian |
| Traffic drives | On the right | On the left |
| Time zone | UTC+6 | UTC+5 |
| Calling code | +246 | +960 |
| Region | Seven seas (open ocean) | Southern Asia, Asia |
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. Chagos Islands sits at about 7° S and is stretched to 1.02× its true area; Maldives at 4° N 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 Maldives?
- No. Chagos Islands is 4.97 times smaller than Maldives. Chagos Islands covers 60 km² and Maldives covers 298 km².
- How many times does Chagos Islands fit into Maldives?
- About 5.0 times: Maldives has 4.97× the area of Chagos Islands.
- Why do Chagos Islands and Maldives 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 Maldives 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 Maldives?
- Maldives: 529,676 people against 3,000. Density: Chagos Islands 50 per km², Maldives 1,777 per km².
- What kind of government do Chagos Islands and Maldives have?
- By constitution, as the CIA World Factbook describes them — Chagos Islands: dependent territory; Maldives: presidential republic.