Cook Islands vs Japan

Japan is 1,575 times larger than Cook Islands. Cook Islands would fit into Japan about 1575 times.

Cook IslandsJapanCook Islands moved onto Japan · Equal-area projection
0.0×
Cook Islands is 0.0× the area of Japan. Put the other way, Japan is 1,575× the size of Cook Islands.
Cook IslandsJapan
Area240 km²377,972 km²
Population14,222123,366,734
Density59 / km²326 / km²
CapitalAvaruaTokyo
RegionPolynesiaEastern Asia
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; Japan at 37° N is stretched to 1.59×. 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 Japan?
No. Cook Islands is 1,575 times smaller than Japan. Cook Islands covers 240 km² and Japan covers 377,972 km².
How many times does Cook Islands fit into Japan?
About 1575 times: Japan has 1,575× the area of Cook Islands.
Why do Cook Islands and Japan 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 Japan about 1.59×. 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 Japan?
Japan: 123,366,734 people against 14,222. Density: Cook Islands 59 per km², Japan 326 per km².