Costa Rica vs Panama
Panama is 45% larger than Costa Rica.
Costa RicaPanamaCosta Rica moved onto Panama · Equal-area projection
0.69×
Costa Rica is 0.69× the area of Panama. Put the other way, Panama is 1.45× the size of Costa Rica.
| Costa Rica | Panama | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 51,180 km² | 74,177 km² |
| Population | 5,152,950 | 4,571,189 |
| Density | 101 / km² | 62 / km² |
| Capital | San Jose | Panama City |
| Region | Central America | Central America |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 2 | 2 |
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; Panama at 9° N is stretched to 1.02×. 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 Panama?
- No. Costa Rica is 31% smaller than Panama. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Panama covers 74,177 km².
- How many times does Costa Rica fit into Panama?
- About 1.4 times: Panama has 1.45× the area of Costa Rica.
- Why do Costa Rica and Panama 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 Panama about 1.02×. 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 Panama?
- Costa Rica: 5,152,950 people against 4,571,189. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Panama 62 per km².