Chagos Islands vs New Caledonia
New Caledonia is 310 times larger than Chagos Islands. Chagos Islands would fit into New Caledonia about 310 times.
Chagos IslandsNew CaledoniaChagos Islands moved onto New Caledonia · Equal-area projection
0.0×
Chagos Islands is 0.0× the area of New Caledonia. Put the other way, New Caledonia is 310× the size of Chagos Islands.
| Chagos Islands | New Caledonia | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 60 km² | 18,576 km² |
| Population | 3,000 | 295,333 |
| Density | 50 / km² | 16 / km² |
| Capital | Diego Garcia | Noum'ea |
| Region | Seven seas (open ocean) | Melanesia |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 0 | 0 |
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; New Caledonia at 21° S is stretched to 1.15×. 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 New Caledonia?
- No. Chagos Islands is 310 times smaller than New Caledonia. Chagos Islands covers 60 km² and New Caledonia covers 18,576 km².
- How many times does Chagos Islands fit into New Caledonia?
- About 310 times: New Caledonia has 310× the area of Chagos Islands.
- Why do Chagos Islands and New Caledonia 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 New Caledonia about 1.15×. 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 New Caledonia?
- New Caledonia: 295,333 people against 3,000. Density: Chagos Islands 50 per km², New Caledonia 16 per km².