Costa Rica vs Mexico
Mexico is 38.5 times larger than Costa Rica. Costa Rica would fit into Mexico about 39 times.
Costa RicaMexicoCosta Rica moved onto Mexico · Equal-area projection
0.03×
Costa Rica is 0.03× the area of Mexico. Put the other way, Mexico is 38.5× the size of Costa Rica.
| Costa Rica | Mexico | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 51,180 km² | 1,972,550 km² |
| Population | 5,152,950 | 131,946,900 |
| Density | 101 / km² | 67 / km² |
| Capital | San Jose | Mexico City |
| Region | Central America | Central America |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 2 | 3 |
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; Mexico at 24° N is stretched to 1.2×. 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 Mexico?
- No. Costa Rica is 38.5 times smaller than Mexico. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Mexico covers 1,972,550 km².
- How many times does Costa Rica fit into Mexico?
- About 39 times: Mexico has 38.5× the area of Costa Rica.
- Why do Costa Rica and Mexico 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 Mexico about 1.2×. 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 Mexico?
- Mexico: 131,946,900 people against 5,152,950. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Mexico 67 per km².