El Salvador vs Taiwan

Taiwan is 72% larger than El Salvador. El Salvador would fit into Taiwan about 1.7 times.

El SalvadorTaiwanEl Salvador moved onto Taiwan · Equal-area projection
0.58×
El Salvador is 0.58× the area of Taiwan. Put the other way, Taiwan is 1.72× the size of El Salvador.
El SalvadorTaiwan
Area21,041 km²36,193 km²
Population6,365,50323,262,544
Density303 / km²643 / km²
CapitalSan SalvadorTaipei
RegionCentral AmericaEastern Asia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours20

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; Taiwan at 24° N is stretched to 1.19×. 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 Taiwan?
No. El Salvador is 42% smaller than Taiwan. El Salvador covers 21,041 km² and Taiwan covers 36,193 km².
How many times does El Salvador fit into Taiwan?
About 1.7 times: Taiwan has 1.72× the area of El Salvador.
Why do El Salvador and Taiwan 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 Taiwan about 1.19×. 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 Taiwan?
Taiwan: 23,262,544 people against 6,365,503. Density: El Salvador 303 per km², Taiwan 643 per km².