Costa Rica vs Guinea

Guinea is 4.8 times larger than Costa Rica. Costa Rica would fit into Guinea about 4.8 times.

Costa RicaGuineaCosta Rica moved onto Guinea · Equal-area projection
0.21×
Costa Rica is 0.21× the area of Guinea. Put the other way, Guinea is 4.8× the size of Costa Rica.
Costa RicaGuinea
Area51,180 km²245,857 km²
Population5,152,95015,099,727
Density101 / km²61 / km²
CapitalSan JoseConakry
RegionCentral AmericaWestern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours26

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; Guinea at 10° N is stretched to 1.03×. 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 Guinea?
No. Costa Rica is 4.8 times smaller than Guinea. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Guinea covers 245,857 km².
How many times does Costa Rica fit into Guinea?
About 4.8 times: Guinea has 4.8× the area of Costa Rica.
Why do Costa Rica and Guinea 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 Guinea about 1.03×. 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 Guinea?
Guinea: 15,099,727 people against 5,152,950. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Guinea 61 per km².