Heard and McDonald Islands vs New Caledonia
New Caledonia is 50.5 times larger than Heard and McDonald Islands. Heard and McDonald Islands would fit into New Caledonia about 50 times.
Heard and McDonald IslandsNew CaledoniaHeard and McDonald Islands moved onto New Caledonia · Equal-area projection
0.02×
Heard and McDonald Islands is 0.02× the area of New Caledonia. Put the other way, New Caledonia is 50.5× the size of Heard and McDonald Islands.
| Heard and McDonald Islands | New Caledonia | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 368 km² | 18,576 km² |
| Population | — | 295,333 |
| Density | — | 16 / km² |
| Capital | — | Noum'ea |
| Region | Seven seas (open ocean) | Melanesia |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 0 | 0 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Heard and McDonald Islands sits at about 53°S and is stretched to 2.77× its true area; New Caledonia at 21° S is stretched to 1.15×. That difference is why Heard and McDonald Islands looks so much bigger than it is next to New Caledonia. The figure above uses the Equal Earth projection, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
Questions about this pair
- Is Heard and McDonald Islands bigger than New Caledonia?
- No. Heard and McDonald Islands is 50.5 times smaller than New Caledonia. Heard and McDonald Islands covers 368 km² and New Caledonia covers 18,576 km².
- How many times does Heard and McDonald Islands fit into New Caledonia?
- About 50 times: New Caledonia has 50.5× the area of Heard and McDonald Islands.
- Why do Heard and McDonald Islands and New Caledonia look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Heard and McDonald Islands is drawn about 2.77× its true area there and New Caledonia about 1.15×. That is why Heard and McDonald Islands looks so much bigger than it really is next to New Caledonia. Kartavera uses Equal Earth, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.