Costa Rica vs Somalia
Somalia is 12.5 times larger than Costa Rica. Costa Rica would fit into Somalia about 12 times.
Costa RicaSomaliaCosta Rica moved onto Somalia · Equal-area projection
0.08×
Costa Rica is 0.08× the area of Somalia. Put the other way, Somalia is 12.5× the size of Costa Rica.
| Costa Rica | Somalia | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 51,180 km² | 637,657 km² |
| Population | 5,152,950 | 19,654,739 |
| Density | 101 / km² | 31 / km² |
| Capital | San Jose | Mogadishu |
| Region | Central America | Eastern Africa |
| 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; Somalia at 5° N 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 Somalia?
- No. Costa Rica is 12.5 times smaller than Somalia. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Somalia covers 637,657 km².
- How many times does Costa Rica fit into Somalia?
- About 12 times: Somalia has 12.5× the area of Costa Rica.
- Why do Costa Rica and Somalia 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 Somalia 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 Somalia?
- Somalia: 19,654,739 people against 5,152,950. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Somalia 31 per km².