Malawi vs South Korea

Malawi is 18% larger than South Korea.

MalawiSouth KoreaMalawi moved onto South Korea · Equal-area projection
1.18×
Malawi is 1.18× the area of South Korea.
MalawiSouth Korea
Area118,484 km²100,295 km²
Population22,216,12051,684,564
Density188 / km²515 / km²
CapitalLilongweSeoul
RegionEastern AfricaEastern Asia
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; South Korea at 36° N is stretched to 1.54×. 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 South Korea?
Yes. Malawi is 18% larger than South Korea. Malawi covers 118,484 km² and South Korea covers 100,295 km².
How many times does South Korea fit into Malawi?
About 1.2 times: Malawi has 1.18× the area of South Korea.
Why do Malawi and South Korea 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 South Korea about 1.54×. 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 South Korea?
South Korea: 51,684,564 people against 22,216,120. Density: Malawi 188 per km², South Korea 515 per km².