Costa Rica vs Vietnam

Vietnam is 6.48 times larger than Costa Rica. Costa Rica would fit into Vietnam about 6.5 times.

Costa RicaVietnamCosta Rica moved onto Vietnam · Equal-area projection
0.15×
Costa Rica is 0.15× the area of Vietnam. Put the other way, Vietnam is 6.48× the size of Costa Rica.
Costa RicaVietnam
Area51,180 km²331,690 km²
Population5,152,950101,598,527
Density101 / km²306 / km²
CapitalSan JoseHanoi
RegionCentral AmericaSouth-Eastern Asia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours23

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; Vietnam at 17° N is stretched to 1.09×. 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 Vietnam?
No. Costa Rica is 6.48 times smaller than Vietnam. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Vietnam covers 331,690 km².
How many times does Costa Rica fit into Vietnam?
About 6.5 times: Vietnam has 6.48× the area of Costa Rica.
Why do Costa Rica and Vietnam 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 Vietnam about 1.09×. 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 Vietnam?
Vietnam: 101,598,527 people against 5,152,950. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Vietnam 306 per km².