Costa Rica vs Madagascar

Madagascar is 11.5 times larger than Costa Rica. Costa Rica would fit into Madagascar about 11 times.

Costa RicaMadagascarCosta Rica moved onto Madagascar · Equal-area projection
0.09×
Costa Rica is 0.09× the area of Madagascar. Put the other way, Madagascar is 11.5× the size of Costa Rica.
Costa RicaMadagascar
Area51,180 km²587,295 km²
Population5,152,95032,740,678
Density101 / km²56 / km²
CapitalSan JoseAntananarivo
RegionCentral AmericaEastern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours20

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; Madagascar at 19° S is stretched to 1.12×. 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 Madagascar?
No. Costa Rica is 11.5 times smaller than Madagascar. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Madagascar covers 587,295 km².
How many times does Costa Rica fit into Madagascar?
About 11 times: Madagascar has 11.5× the area of Costa Rica.
Why do Costa Rica and Madagascar 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 Madagascar about 1.12×. 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 Madagascar?
Madagascar: 32,740,678 people against 5,152,950. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Madagascar 56 per km².