Mozambique vs Papua New Guinea

Mozambique is 73% larger than Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea would fit into Mozambique about 1.7 times.

MozambiquePapua New GuineaMozambique moved onto Papua New Guinea · Equal-area projection
1.73×
Mozambique is 1.73× the area of Papua New Guinea.
MozambiquePapua New Guinea
Area801,590 km²462,840 km²
Population35,631,65310,762,817
Density44 / km²23 / km²
CapitalMaputoPort Moresby
RegionEastern AfricaMelanesia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours61

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Mozambique sits at about 17°S 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 Mozambique bigger than Papua New Guinea?
Yes. Mozambique is 73% larger than Papua New Guinea. Mozambique covers 801,590 km² and Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km².
How many times does Papua New Guinea fit into Mozambique?
About 1.7 times: Mozambique has 1.73× the area of Papua New Guinea.
Why do Mozambique and Papua New Guinea look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Mozambique 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, Mozambique or Papua New Guinea?
Mozambique: 35,631,653 people against 10,762,817. Density: Mozambique 44 per km², Papua New Guinea 23 per km².