Cook Islands vs Malta
Malta is 32% larger than Cook Islands.
Cook IslandsMaltaCook Islands moved onto Malta · Equal-area projection
0.76×
Cook Islands is 0.76× the area of Malta. Put the other way, Malta is 1.32× the size of Cook Islands.
 Cook Islands |  Malta | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| AreaMalta: 1.32× the area | 240 km² | 316 km²#186 of 194 |
| Coastline | Coast, no land border | Coast, no land border |
| Land neighbours | 0 | 0 |
| People | ||
| PopulationMalta: 40.8× the population | 14,2222023 | 579,704#166 of 194 · 2025 |
| DensityMalta: 31.0× the density | 59 / km² | 1,835 / km²#4 of 194 |
| Urban population | — | 96%#9 of 192 · 2025 |
| Fertility rate | — | 1.01 per woman#188 of 192 · 2024 |
| Population growth | — | +1.89%#51 of 192 · 2025 |
| Birth rate | — | 7.7 per 1,000#174 of 192 · 2024 |
| Death rate | — | 7.3 per 1,000#93 of 192 · 2024 |
| Children under 15 | — | 12.9%#182 of 192 · 2025 |
| People over 65 | — | 20.5%#28 of 192 · 2025 |
| Net migration | — | +8.9 per 1,000#9 of 192 · 2025 |
| Refugees abroad | — | 0.02 per 1,000#145 of 190 · 2025 |
| Health & education | ||
| Life expectancy | — | 83.0 years#18 of 192 · 2024 |
| Infant mortality | — | 4.7 per 1,000 births#144 of 191 · 2024 |
| Doctors | — | 4.51 per 1,000#16 of 178 · 2022 |
| University enrolment | — | 80.5%#23 of 145 · 2023 |
| Human Development Index | — | 0.924#23 of 190 · 2023 |
| Economy | ||
| GNI per capita | — | $41,440#26 of 185 · 2025 |
| GDP | — | $27.77B2025 |
| Income group | — | High income |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | — | $72,210#21 of 184 · 2025 |
| GDP growth | — | +4.0%#69 of 187 · 2025 |
| Inflation | — | +2.4%#103 of 176 · 2025 |
| Unemployment | — | 2.9%#144 of 178 · 2025 |
| Extreme poverty | — | 0.4%#107 of 149 · 2023 |
| Income inequality (Gini) | — | 31.8#104 of 149 · 2023 |
| Jobs in agriculture | — | 0.9% of jobs#172 of 178 · 2025 |
| Jobs in industry | — | 17.7% of jobs#110 of 178 · 2025 |
| Jobs in services | — | 81.4% of jobs#10 of 178 · 2025 |
| Foreign investment | — | 170.1% of GDP#1 of 184 · 2024 |
| Exports | — | 119.1% of GDP#5 of 168 · 2025 |
| Military spending | — | 0.5% of GDP#146 of 155 · 2025 |
| Internet users | — | 94%#33 of 184 · 2024 |
| Mobile subscriptions | — | 142 per 100#32 of 191 · 2024 |
| Energy & environment | ||
| Forest area | — | 2% of land#174 of 192 · 2024 |
| CO₂ per person | — | 3.18 t a year#81 of 185 · 2024 |
| Renewable energy | — | 8.6%#150 of 190 · 2021 |
| Access to electricity | — | 100.0%#1 of 192 · 2024 |
| Air pollution (PM2.5) | — | 10.8 µg/m³#149 of 191 · 2023 |
| Protected land | — | 29.0% of land#37 of 191 · 2025 |
| Arable land | — | 22.2% of land#46 of 190 · 2024 |
| Water stress | — | 72.6%#24 of 176 · 2022 |
| Precipitation | — | 560 mm#137 of 180 · 2022 |
| Governance & safety | ||
| Political stability | — | +1.04#31 of 193 · 2025 |
| Control of corruption | — | +0.18#72 of 193 · 2025 |
| Homicide rate | — | 0.6 per 100,000#132 of 146 · 2023 |
| State | ||
| Status | Territory of New Zealand | Independent state |
| Government | Dependent territoryparliamentary democracy | Parliamentary republic |
| Member of | — | EU, Euro area, Schengen Area |
| Capital | Avarua | Valletta |
| Currency | New Zealand dollar (NZD) | Euro (EUR) |
| Official languages | English, Cook Islands Maori | English, Maltese |
| Traffic drives | On the left | On the left |
| Time zone | UTC−10 | UTC+1, summer time UTC+2 |
| Calling code | +682 | +356 |
| Region | Polynesia, Oceania | Southern Europe, Europe |
Area: Wikidata. Population, income, health, economy, environment and governance: World Bank. Human Development Index: UNDP. Government: CIA World Factbook. Ranks among the 194 independent states. All sources
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; Malta at 36° N is stretched to 1.52×. 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 Malta?
- No. Cook Islands is 24% smaller than Malta. Cook Islands covers 240 km² and Malta covers 316 km².
- How many times does Cook Islands fit into Malta?
- About 1.3 times: Malta has 1.32× the area of Cook Islands.
- Why do Cook Islands and Malta 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 Malta about 1.52×. 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 Malta?
- Malta: 579,704 people against 14,222. Density: Cook Islands 59 per km², Malta 1,835 per km².
- What kind of government do Cook Islands and Malta have?
- By constitution, as the CIA World Factbook describes them — Cook Islands: dependent territory; Malta: parliamentary republic.