Costa Rica vs Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is 9.04 times larger than Costa Rica. Costa Rica would fit into Papua New Guinea about 9.0 times.
Costa RicaPapua New GuineaCosta Rica moved onto Papua New Guinea · Equal-area projection
0.11×
Costa Rica is 0.11× the area of Papua New Guinea. Put the other way, Papua New Guinea is 9.04× the size of Costa Rica.
| Costa Rica | Papua New Guinea | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 51,180 km² | 462,840 km² |
| Population | 5,152,950 | 10,762,817 |
| Density | 101 / km² | 23 / km² |
| Capital | San Jose | Port Moresby |
| Region | Central America | Melanesia |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 2 | 1 |
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; Papua New Guinea at 6° S is stretched to 1.01×. 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 Papua New Guinea?
- No. Costa Rica is 9.04 times smaller than Papua New Guinea. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km².
- How many times does Costa Rica fit into Papua New Guinea?
- About 9.0 times: Papua New Guinea has 9.04× the area of Costa Rica.
- Why do Costa Rica and Papua New Guinea 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 Papua New Guinea about 1.01×. 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 Papua New Guinea?
- Papua New Guinea: 10,762,817 people against 5,152,950. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Papua New Guinea 23 per km².