Chagos Islands vs Tonga
Tonga is 12.5 times larger than Chagos Islands. Chagos Islands would fit into Tonga about 12 times.
Chagos IslandsTongaChagos Islands moved onto Tonga · Equal-area projection
0.08×
Chagos Islands is 0.08× the area of Tonga. Put the other way, Tonga is 12.5× the size of Chagos Islands.
| Chagos Islands | Tonga | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 60 km² | 749 km² |
| Population | 3,000 | 103,742 |
| Density | 50 / km² | 139 / km² |
| Capital | Diego Garcia | Nuku'alofa |
| 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; Tonga at 20° S is stretched to 1.14×. 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 Tonga?
- No. Chagos Islands is 12.5 times smaller than Tonga. Chagos Islands covers 60 km² and Tonga covers 749 km².
- How many times does Chagos Islands fit into Tonga?
- About 12 times: Tonga has 12.5× the area of Chagos Islands.
- Why do Chagos Islands and Tonga 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 Tonga about 1.14×. 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 Tonga?
- Tonga: 103,742 people against 3,000. Density: Chagos Islands 50 per km², Tonga 139 per km².