Mali vs Papua New Guinea

Mali is 2.68 times larger than Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea would fit into Mali about 2.7 times.

MaliPapua New GuineaMali moved onto Papua New Guinea · Equal-area projection
2.68×
Mali is 2.68× the area of Papua New Guinea.
MaliPapua New Guinea
Area1,240,192 km²462,840 km²
Population25,198,82110,762,817
Density20 / km²23 / km²
CapitalBamakoPort Moresby
RegionWestern AfricaMelanesia
CoastlineLandlockedHas a coast
Neighbours71

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Mali sits at about 17°N and is stretched to 1.1× 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 Mali bigger than Papua New Guinea?
Yes. Mali is 2.68 times larger than Papua New Guinea. Mali covers 1,240,192 km² and Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km².
How many times does Papua New Guinea fit into Mali?
About 2.7 times: Mali has 2.68× the area of Papua New Guinea.
Why do Mali and Papua New Guinea look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Mali is drawn about 1.1× 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, Mali or Papua New Guinea?
Mali: 25,198,821 people against 10,762,817. Density: Mali 20 per km², Papua New Guinea 23 per km².