Costa Rica vs Guatemala

Guatemala is 2.13 times larger than Costa Rica. Costa Rica would fit into Guatemala about 2.1 times.

Costa RicaGuatemalaCosta Rica moved onto Guatemala · Equal-area projection
0.47×
Costa Rica is 0.47× the area of Guatemala. Put the other way, Guatemala is 2.13× the size of Costa Rica.
Costa RicaGuatemala
Area51,180 km²108,889 km²
Population5,152,95018,687,881
Density101 / km²172 / km²
CapitalSan JoseGuatemala City
RegionCentral AmericaCentral America
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours24

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Costa Rica sits at about 10°N and is stretched to 1.03× its true area; Guatemala at 16° N is stretched to 1.08×. 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 Costa Rica bigger than Guatemala?
No. Costa Rica is 2.13 times smaller than Guatemala. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Guatemala covers 108,889 km².
How many times does Costa Rica fit into Guatemala?
About 2.1 times: Guatemala has 2.13× the area of Costa Rica.
Why do Costa Rica and Guatemala look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Costa Rica is drawn about 1.03× its true area there and Guatemala about 1.08×. 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, Costa Rica or Guatemala?
Guatemala: 18,687,881 people against 5,152,950. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Guatemala 172 per km².