Costa Rica vs Kenya
Kenya is 11.4 times larger than Costa Rica. Costa Rica would fit into Kenya about 11 times.
Costa RicaKenyaCosta Rica moved onto Kenya · Equal-area projection
0.09×
Costa Rica is 0.09× the area of Kenya. Put the other way, Kenya is 11.4× the size of Costa Rica.
| Costa Rica | Kenya | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 51,180 km² | 581,309 km² |
| Population | 5,152,950 | 57,532,493 |
| Density | 101 / km² | 99 / km² |
| Capital | San Jose | Nairobi |
| Region | Central America | Eastern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 2 | 5 |
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; Kenya at 1° N is stretched to 1.0×. 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 Kenya?
- No. Costa Rica is 11.4 times smaller than Kenya. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Kenya covers 581,309 km².
- How many times does Costa Rica fit into Kenya?
- About 11 times: Kenya has 11.4× the area of Costa Rica.
- Why do Costa Rica and Kenya 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 Kenya about 1.0×. 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 Kenya?
- Kenya: 57,532,493 people against 5,152,950. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Kenya 99 per km².