El Salvador vs Gambia

El Salvador is 86% larger than Gambia. Gambia would fit into El Salvador about 1.9 times.

El SalvadorGambiaEl Salvador moved onto Gambia · Equal-area projection
1.86×
El Salvador is 1.86× the area of Gambia.
El SalvadorGambia
Area21,041 km²11,300 km²
Population6,365,5032,822,093
Density303 / km²250 / km²
CapitalSan SalvadorBanjul
RegionCentral AmericaWestern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours21

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. El Salvador sits at about 14°N and is stretched to 1.06× its true area; Gambia at 13° N 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 El Salvador bigger than Gambia?
Yes. El Salvador is 86% larger than Gambia. El Salvador covers 21,041 km² and Gambia covers 11,300 km².
How many times does Gambia fit into El Salvador?
About 1.9 times: El Salvador has 1.86× the area of Gambia.
Why do El Salvador and Gambia look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. El Salvador is drawn about 1.06× its true area there and Gambia 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, El Salvador or Gambia?
El Salvador: 6,365,503 people against 2,822,093. Density: El Salvador 303 per km², Gambia 250 per km².