Madagascar vs Papua New Guinea
Madagascar is 27% larger than Papua New Guinea.
MadagascarPapua New GuineaMadagascar moved onto Papua New Guinea · Equal-area projection
1.27×
Madagascar is 1.27× the area of Papua New Guinea.
| Madagascar | Papua New Guinea | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 587,295 km² | 462,840 km² |
| Population | 32,740,678 | 10,762,817 |
| Density | 56 / km² | 23 / km² |
| Capital | Antananarivo | Port Moresby |
| Region | Eastern Africa | 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. Madagascar sits at about 19°S and is stretched to 1.12× 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 Madagascar bigger than Papua New Guinea?
- Yes. Madagascar is 27% larger than Papua New Guinea. Madagascar covers 587,295 km² and Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km².
- How many times does Papua New Guinea fit into Madagascar?
- About 1.3 times: Madagascar has 1.27× the area of Papua New Guinea.
- Why do Madagascar and Papua New Guinea look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Madagascar is drawn about 1.12× 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, Madagascar or Papua New Guinea?
- Madagascar: 32,740,678 people against 10,762,817. Density: Madagascar 56 per km², Papua New Guinea 23 per km².