Laos vs Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is 95% larger than Laos. Laos would fit into Papua New Guinea about 2.0 times.
LaosPapua New GuineaLaos moved onto Papua New Guinea · Equal-area projection
0.51×
Laos is 0.51× the area of Papua New Guinea. Put the other way, Papua New Guinea is 1.95× the size of Laos.
| Laos | Papua New Guinea | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 236,800 km² | 462,840 km² |
| Population | 7,873,046 | 10,762,817 |
| Density | 33 / km² | 23 / km² |
| Capital | Vientiane | Port Moresby |
| Region | South-Eastern Asia | Melanesia |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 5 | 1 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Laos sits at about 18°N and is stretched to 1.11× its true area; Papua New Guinea at 6° S is stretched to 1.01×. 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 Laos bigger than Papua New Guinea?
- No. Laos is 49% smaller than Papua New Guinea. Laos covers 236,800 km² and Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km².
- How many times does Laos fit into Papua New Guinea?
- About 2.0 times: Papua New Guinea has 1.95× the area of Laos.
- Why do Laos and Papua New Guinea look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Laos is drawn about 1.11× its true area there and Papua New Guinea about 1.01×. 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, Laos or Papua New Guinea?
- Papua New Guinea: 10,762,817 people against 7,873,046. Density: Laos 33 per km², Papua New Guinea 23 per km².