Cook Islands vs French Polynesia

French Polynesia is 17.4 times larger than Cook Islands. Cook Islands would fit into French Polynesia about 17 times.

Cook IslandsFrench PolynesiaCook Islands moved onto French Polynesia · Equal-area projection
0.06×
Cook Islands is 0.06× the area of French Polynesia. Put the other way, French Polynesia is 17.4× the size of Cook Islands.
Cook IslandsFrench Polynesia
Area240 km²4,167 km²
Population14,222282,465
Density59 / km²68 / km²
CapitalAvaruaPapeete
RegionPolynesiaPolynesia
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. Cook Islands sits at about 21°S and is stretched to 1.15× its true area; French Polynesia at 15° S is stretched to 1.07×. 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 Cook Islands bigger than French Polynesia?
No. Cook Islands is 17.4 times smaller than French Polynesia. Cook Islands covers 240 km² and French Polynesia covers 4,167 km².
How many times does Cook Islands fit into French Polynesia?
About 17 times: French Polynesia has 17.4× the area of Cook Islands.
Why do Cook Islands and French Polynesia look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Cook Islands is drawn about 1.15× its true area there and French Polynesia about 1.07×. 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, Cook Islands or French Polynesia?
French Polynesia: 282,465 people against 14,222. Density: Cook Islands 59 per km², French Polynesia 68 per km².