New Caledonia vs Samoa

New Caledonia is 6.54 times larger than Samoa. Samoa would fit into New Caledonia about 6.5 times.

New CaledoniaSamoaNew Caledonia moved onto Samoa · Equal-area projection
6.54×
New Caledonia is 6.54× the area of Samoa.
New CaledoniaSamoa
Area18,576 km²2,842 km²
Population295,333219,306
Density16 / km²77 / km²
CapitalNoum'eaApia
RegionMelanesiaPolynesia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours00

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. New Caledonia sits at about 21°S and is stretched to 1.15× its true area; Samoa at 14° S is stretched to 1.06×. 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 New Caledonia bigger than Samoa?
Yes. New Caledonia is 6.54 times larger than Samoa. New Caledonia covers 18,576 km² and Samoa covers 2,842 km².
How many times does Samoa fit into New Caledonia?
About 6.5 times: New Caledonia has 6.54× the area of Samoa.
Why do New Caledonia and Samoa look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. New Caledonia is drawn about 1.15× its true area there and Samoa about 1.06×. 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, New Caledonia or Samoa?
New Caledonia: 295,333 people against 219,306. Density: New Caledonia 16 per km², Samoa 77 per km².