Chagos Islands vs Samoa
Samoa is 47.4 times larger than Chagos Islands. Chagos Islands would fit into Samoa about 47 times.
Chagos IslandsSamoaChagos Islands moved onto Samoa · Equal-area projection
0.02×
Chagos Islands is 0.02× the area of Samoa. Put the other way, Samoa is 47.4× the size of Chagos Islands.
| Chagos Islands | Samoa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 60 km² | 2,842 km² |
| Population | 3,000 | 219,306 |
| Density | 50 / km² | 77 / km² |
| Capital | Diego Garcia | Apia |
| Region | Seven seas (open ocean) | Polynesia |
| 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; Samoa at 14° S is stretched to 1.06×. 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 Samoa?
- No. Chagos Islands is 47.4 times smaller than Samoa. Chagos Islands covers 60 km² and Samoa covers 2,842 km².
- How many times does Chagos Islands fit into Samoa?
- About 47 times: Samoa has 47.4× the area of Chagos Islands.
- Why do Chagos Islands and Samoa 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 Samoa about 1.06×. 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 Samoa?
- Samoa: 219,306 people against 3,000. Density: Chagos Islands 50 per km², Samoa 77 per km².