Italy vs Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is 53% larger than Italy. Italy would fit into Papua New Guinea about 1.5 times.

ItalyPapua New GuineaItaly moved onto Papua New Guinea · Equal-area projection
0.65×
Italy is 0.65× the area of Papua New Guinea. Put the other way, Papua New Guinea is 1.53× the size of Italy.
ItalyPapua New Guinea
Area302,068 km²462,840 km²
Population58,915,65610,762,817
Density195 / km²23 / km²
CapitalRomePort Moresby
RegionSouthern EuropeMelanesia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours61

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Italy sits at about 43°N and is stretched to 1.85× its true area; Papua New Guinea at 6° S is stretched to 1.01×. That difference is why Italy looks so much bigger than it is next to Papua New Guinea. The figure above uses the Equal Earth projection, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.

Questions about this pair

Is Italy bigger than Papua New Guinea?
No. Italy is 35% smaller than Papua New Guinea. Italy covers 302,068 km² and Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km².
How many times does Italy fit into Papua New Guinea?
About 1.5 times: Papua New Guinea has 1.53× the area of Italy.
Why do Italy and Papua New Guinea look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Italy is drawn about 1.85× its true area there and Papua New Guinea about 1.01×. That is why Italy looks so much bigger than it really is next to Papua New Guinea. Kartavera uses Equal Earth, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
Which has more people, Italy or Papua New Guinea?
Italy: 58,915,656 people against 10,762,817. Density: Italy 195 per km², Papua New Guinea 23 per km².