Malawi vs Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is 3.91 times larger than Malawi. Malawi would fit into Papua New Guinea about 3.9 times.

MalawiPapua New GuineaMalawi moved onto Papua New Guinea · Equal-area projection
0.26×
Malawi is 0.26× the area of Papua New Guinea. Put the other way, Papua New Guinea is 3.91× the size of Malawi.
MalawiPapua New Guinea
Area118,484 km²462,840 km²
Population22,216,12010,762,817
Density188 / km²23 / km²
CapitalLilongwePort Moresby
RegionEastern AfricaMelanesia
CoastlineLandlockedHas a coast
Neighbours31

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Malawi sits at about 13°S and is stretched to 1.06× 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 Malawi bigger than Papua New Guinea?
No. Malawi is 3.91 times smaller than Papua New Guinea. Malawi covers 118,484 km² and Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km².
How many times does Malawi fit into Papua New Guinea?
About 3.9 times: Papua New Guinea has 3.91× the area of Malawi.
Why do Malawi and Papua New Guinea look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Malawi is drawn about 1.06× 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, Malawi or Papua New Guinea?
Malawi: 22,216,120 people against 10,762,817. Density: Malawi 188 per km², Papua New Guinea 23 per km².