Costa Rica vs Zambia
Zambia is 14.7 times larger than Costa Rica. Costa Rica would fit into Zambia about 15 times.
Costa RicaZambiaCosta Rica moved onto Zambia · Equal-area projection
0.07×
Costa Rica is 0.07× the area of Zambia. Put the other way, Zambia is 14.7× the size of Costa Rica.
| Costa Rica | Zambia | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 51,180 km² | 752,618 km² |
| Population | 5,152,950 | 21,913,874 |
| Density | 101 / km² | 29 / km² |
| Capital | San Jose | Lusaka |
| Region | Central America | Eastern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Landlocked |
| Neighbours | 2 | 7 |
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; Zambia at 13° S is stretched to 1.06×. 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 Zambia?
- No. Costa Rica is 14.7 times smaller than Zambia. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Zambia covers 752,618 km².
- How many times does Costa Rica fit into Zambia?
- About 15 times: Zambia has 14.7× the area of Costa Rica.
- Why do Costa Rica and Zambia 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 Zambia about 1.06×. 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 Zambia?
- Zambia: 21,913,874 people against 5,152,950. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Zambia 29 per km².