Costa Rica vs Namibia
Namibia is 16.1 times larger than Costa Rica. Costa Rica would fit into Namibia about 16 times.
Costa RicaNamibiaCosta Rica moved onto Namibia · Equal-area projection
0.06×
Costa Rica is 0.06× the area of Namibia. Put the other way, Namibia is 16.1× the size of Costa Rica.
| Costa Rica | Namibia | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 51,180 km² | 825,615 km² |
| Population | 5,152,950 | 3,092,816 |
| Density | 101 / km² | 3.7 / km² |
| Capital | San Jose | Windhoek |
| Region | Central America | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 2 | 4 |
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; Namibia at 22° S is stretched to 1.16×. 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 Namibia?
- No. Costa Rica is 16.1 times smaller than Namibia. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Namibia covers 825,615 km².
- How many times does Costa Rica fit into Namibia?
- About 16 times: Namibia has 16.1× the area of Costa Rica.
- Why do Costa Rica and Namibia 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 Namibia about 1.16×. 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 Namibia?
- Costa Rica: 5,152,950 people against 3,092,816. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Namibia 3.7 per km².