Costa Rica vs Maldives

Costa Rica is 172 times larger than Maldives. Maldives would fit into Costa Rica about 172 times.

Costa RicaMaldivesCosta Rica moved onto Maldives · Equal-area projection
172×
Costa Rica is 172× the area of Maldives.
Costa RicaMaldives
Area51,180 km²298 km²
Population5,152,950529,676
Density101 / km²1,777 / km²
CapitalSan JoseMale
RegionCentral AmericaSouthern Asia
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; Maldives at 4° 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 Maldives?
Yes. Costa Rica is 172 times larger than Maldives. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Maldives covers 298 km².
How many times does Maldives fit into Costa Rica?
About 172 times: Costa Rica has 172× the area of Maldives.
Why do Costa Rica and Maldives 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 Maldives 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 Maldives?
Costa Rica: 5,152,950 people against 529,676. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Maldives 1,777 per km².