El Salvador vs Vanuatu

El Salvador is 73% larger than Vanuatu. Vanuatu would fit into El Salvador about 1.7 times.

El SalvadorVanuatuEl Salvador moved onto Vanuatu · Equal-area projection
1.73×
El Salvador is 1.73× the area of Vanuatu.
El SalvadorVanuatu
Area21,041 km²12,190 km²
Population6,365,503335,169
Density303 / km²27 / km²
CapitalSan SalvadorPort-Vila
RegionCentral AmericaMelanesia
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; Vanuatu at 16° S is stretched to 1.08×. 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 Vanuatu?
Yes. El Salvador is 73% larger than Vanuatu. El Salvador covers 21,041 km² and Vanuatu covers 12,190 km².
How many times does Vanuatu fit into El Salvador?
About 1.7 times: El Salvador has 1.73× the area of Vanuatu.
Why do El Salvador and Vanuatu 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 Vanuatu about 1.08×. 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 Vanuatu?
El Salvador: 6,365,503 people against 335,169. Density: El Salvador 303 per km², Vanuatu 27 per km².