Costa Rica vs Lesotho
Costa Rica is 69% larger than Lesotho. Lesotho would fit into Costa Rica about 1.7 times.
Costa RicaLesothoCosta Rica moved onto Lesotho · Equal-area projection
1.69×
Costa Rica is 1.69× the area of Lesotho.
| Costa Rica | Lesotho | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 51,180 km² | 30,355 km² |
| Population | 5,152,950 | 2,363,325 |
| Density | 101 / km² | 78 / km² |
| Capital | San Jose | Maseru |
| Region | Central America | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Landlocked |
| Neighbours | 2 | 1 |
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; Lesotho at 30° S is stretched to 1.32×. 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 Lesotho?
- Yes. Costa Rica is 69% larger than Lesotho. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Lesotho covers 30,355 km².
- How many times does Lesotho fit into Costa Rica?
- About 1.7 times: Costa Rica has 1.69× the area of Lesotho.
- Why do Costa Rica and Lesotho 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 Lesotho about 1.32×. 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 Lesotho?
- Costa Rica: 5,152,950 people against 2,363,325. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Lesotho 78 per km².