Costa Rica vs Guyana

Guyana is 4.2 times larger than Costa Rica. Costa Rica would fit into Guyana about 4.2 times.

Costa RicaGuyanaCosta Rica moved onto Guyana · Equal-area projection
0.24×
Costa Rica is 0.24× the area of Guyana. Put the other way, Guyana is 4.2× the size of Costa Rica.
Costa RicaGuyana
Area51,180 km²214,970 km²
Population5,152,950835,986
Density101 / km²3.9 / km²
CapitalSan JoseGeorgetown
RegionCentral AmericaSouth America
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours23

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; Guyana at 5° N is stretched to 1.01×. 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 Guyana?
No. Costa Rica is 4.2 times smaller than Guyana. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Guyana covers 214,970 km².
How many times does Costa Rica fit into Guyana?
About 4.2 times: Guyana has 4.2× the area of Costa Rica.
Why do Costa Rica and Guyana 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 Guyana about 1.01×. 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 Guyana?
Costa Rica: 5,152,950 people against 835,986. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Guyana 3.9 per km².