Japan vs Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is 22% larger than Japan.
JapanPapua New GuineaJapan moved onto Papua New Guinea · Equal-area projection
0.82×
Japan is 0.82× the area of Papua New Guinea. Put the other way, Papua New Guinea is 1.22× the size of Japan.
| Japan | Papua New Guinea | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 377,972 km² | 462,840 km² |
| Population | 123,366,734 | 10,762,817 |
| Density | 326 / km² | 23 / km² |
| Capital | Tokyo | Port Moresby |
| Region | Eastern Asia | Melanesia |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 0 | 1 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Japan sits at about 37°N and is stretched to 1.59× its true area; Papua New Guinea at 6° S is stretched to 1.01×. That difference is why Japan 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 Japan bigger than Papua New Guinea?
- No. Japan is 18% smaller than Papua New Guinea. Japan covers 377,972 km² and Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km².
- How many times does Japan fit into Papua New Guinea?
- About 1.2 times: Papua New Guinea has 1.22× the area of Japan.
- Why do Japan and Papua New Guinea look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Japan is drawn about 1.59× its true area there and Papua New Guinea about 1.01×. That is why Japan 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, Japan or Papua New Guinea?
- Japan: 123,366,734 people against 10,762,817. Density: Japan 326 per km², Papua New Guinea 23 per km².