Eritrea vs Panama

Eritrea is 59% larger than Panama. Panama would fit into Eritrea about 1.6 times.

EritreaPanamaEritrea moved onto Panama · Equal-area projection
1.59×
Eritrea is 1.59× the area of Panama.
EritreaPanama
Area117,600 km²74,177 km²
Population3,607,0034,571,189
Density31 / km²62 / km²
CapitalAsmaraPanama City
RegionEastern AfricaCentral America
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours32

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Eritrea sits at about 15°N and is stretched to 1.08× its true area; Panama at 9° N is stretched to 1.02×. 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 Eritrea bigger than Panama?
Yes. Eritrea is 59% larger than Panama. Eritrea covers 117,600 km² and Panama covers 74,177 km².
How many times does Panama fit into Eritrea?
About 1.6 times: Eritrea has 1.59× the area of Panama.
Why do Eritrea and Panama look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Eritrea is drawn about 1.08× its true area there and Panama about 1.02×. 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, Eritrea or Panama?
Panama: 4,571,189 people against 3,607,003. Density: Eritrea 31 per km², Panama 62 per km².