Curaçao vs Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is 1,042 times larger than Curaçao. Curaçao would fit into Papua New Guinea about 1042 times.

CuraçaoPapua New GuineaCuraçao moved onto Papua New Guinea · Equal-area projection
0.0×
Curaçao is 0.0× the area of Papua New Guinea. Put the other way, Papua New Guinea is 1,042× the size of Curaçao.
CuraçaoPapua New Guinea
Area444 km²462,840 km²
Population156,26310,762,817
Density352 / km²23 / km²
CapitalWillemstadPort Moresby
RegionCaribbeanMelanesia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours01

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Curaçao sits at about 12°N and is stretched to 1.05× 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 Curaçao bigger than Papua New Guinea?
No. Curaçao is 1,042 times smaller than Papua New Guinea. Curaçao covers 444 km² and Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km².
How many times does Curaçao fit into Papua New Guinea?
About 1042 times: Papua New Guinea has 1,042× the area of Curaçao.
Why do Curaçao and Papua New Guinea look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Curaçao is drawn about 1.05× 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, Curaçao or Papua New Guinea?
Papua New Guinea: 10,762,817 people against 156,263. Density: Curaçao 352 per km², Papua New Guinea 23 per km².