Costa Rica vs Nigeria
Nigeria is 18 times larger than Costa Rica. Costa Rica would fit into Nigeria about 18 times.
Costa RicaNigeriaCosta Rica moved onto Nigeria · Equal-area projection
0.06×
Costa Rica is 0.06× the area of Nigeria. Put the other way, Nigeria is 18× the size of Costa Rica.
| Costa Rica | Nigeria | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 51,180 km² | 923,768 km² |
| Population | 5,152,950 | 237,527,782 |
| Density | 101 / km² | 257 / km² |
| Capital | San Jose | Abuja |
| Region | Central America | Western 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; Nigeria at 10° N is stretched to 1.03×. 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 Nigeria?
- No. Costa Rica is 18 times smaller than Nigeria. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Nigeria covers 923,768 km².
- How many times does Costa Rica fit into Nigeria?
- About 18 times: Nigeria has 18× the area of Costa Rica.
- Why do Costa Rica and Nigeria 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 Nigeria about 1.03×. 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 Nigeria?
- Nigeria: 237,527,782 people against 5,152,950. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Nigeria 257 per km².