Chagos Islands vs Northern Mariana Islands

Northern Mariana Islands is 7.73 times larger than Chagos Islands. Chagos Islands would fit into Northern Mariana Islands about 7.7 times.

Chagos IslandsNorthern Mariana IslandsChagos Islands moved onto Northern Mariana Islands · Equal-area projection
0.13×
Chagos Islands is 0.13× the area of Northern Mariana Islands. Put the other way, Northern Mariana Islands is 7.73× the size of Chagos Islands.
Chagos IslandsNorthern Mariana Islands
Area60 km²464 km²
Population3,00043,541
Density50 / km²94 / km²
CapitalDiego GarciaSaipan
RegionSeven seas (open ocean)Micronesia
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; Northern Mariana Islands at 16° N is stretched to 1.08×. 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 Northern Mariana Islands?
No. Chagos Islands is 7.73 times smaller than Northern Mariana Islands. Chagos Islands covers 60 km² and Northern Mariana Islands covers 464 km².
How many times does Chagos Islands fit into Northern Mariana Islands?
About 7.7 times: Northern Mariana Islands has 7.73× the area of Chagos Islands.
Why do Chagos Islands and Northern Mariana Islands 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 Northern Mariana Islands about 1.08×. 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 Northern Mariana Islands?
Northern Mariana Islands: 43,541 people against 3,000. Density: Chagos Islands 50 per km², Northern Mariana Islands 94 per km².