Côte d'Ivoire vs Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is 44% larger than Côte d'Ivoire.

Côte d'IvoirePapua New GuineaCôte d'Ivoire moved onto Papua New Guinea · Equal-area projection
0.7×
Côte d'Ivoire is 0.7× the area of Papua New Guinea. Put the other way, Papua New Guinea is 1.44× the size of Côte d'Ivoire.
Côte d'IvoirePapua New Guinea
Area322,463 km²462,840 km²
Population32,711,54710,762,817
Density101 / km²23 / km²
CapitalYamoussoukroPort Moresby
RegionWestern AfricaMelanesia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours51

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Côte d'Ivoire sits at about 8°N and is stretched to 1.02× 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 Côte d'Ivoire bigger than Papua New Guinea?
No. Côte d'Ivoire is 30% smaller than Papua New Guinea. Côte d'Ivoire covers 322,463 km² and Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km².
How many times does Côte d'Ivoire fit into Papua New Guinea?
About 1.4 times: Papua New Guinea has 1.44× the area of Côte d'Ivoire.
Why do Côte d'Ivoire and Papua New Guinea look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Côte d'Ivoire is drawn about 1.02× 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, Côte d'Ivoire or Papua New Guinea?
Côte d'Ivoire: 32,711,547 people against 10,762,817. Density: Côte d'Ivoire 101 per km², Papua New Guinea 23 per km².