Malaysia vs Vietnam

Vietnam and Malaysia are almost exactly the same size.

MalaysiaVietnamMalaysia moved onto Vietnam · Equal-area projection
1.0×
Malaysia is 1.0× the area of Vietnam. Put the other way, Vietnam is 1.0× the size of Malaysia.
MalaysiaVietnam
Area330,803 km²331,690 km²
Population35,977,838101,598,527
Density109 / km²306 / km²
CapitalKuala LumpurHanoi
RegionSouth-Eastern AsiaSouth-Eastern Asia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours33

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Malaysia sits at about 4°N and is stretched to 1.0× its true area; Vietnam at 17° N is stretched to 1.09×. 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 Malaysia bigger than Vietnam?
No. Malaysia and Vietnam are almost exactly the same size. Malaysia covers 330,803 km² and Vietnam covers 331,690 km².
How many times does Malaysia fit into Vietnam?
About 1.0 times: Vietnam has 1.0× the area of Malaysia.
Why do Malaysia and Vietnam look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Malaysia is drawn about 1.0× its true area there and Vietnam about 1.09×. 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, Malaysia or Vietnam?
Vietnam: 101,598,527 people against 35,977,838. Density: Malaysia 109 per km², Vietnam 306 per km².