Cook Islands vs Palau

Palau is 94% larger than Cook Islands. Cook Islands would fit into Palau about 1.9 times.

Cook IslandsPalauCook Islands moved onto Palau · Equal-area projection
0.52×
Cook Islands is 0.52× the area of Palau. Put the other way, Palau is 1.94× the size of Cook Islands.
Cook IslandsPalau
Area240 km²466 km²
Population14,22217,663
Density59 / km²38 / km²
CapitalAvaruaKoror
RegionPolynesiaMicronesia
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; Palau at 7° N is stretched to 1.02×. 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 Palau?
No. Cook Islands is 48% smaller than Palau. Cook Islands covers 240 km² and Palau covers 466 km².
How many times does Cook Islands fit into Palau?
About 1.9 times: Palau has 1.94× the area of Cook Islands.
Why do Cook Islands and Palau 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 Palau about 1.02×. 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 Palau?
Palau: 17,663 people against 14,222. Density: Cook Islands 59 per km², Palau 38 per km².