New Caledonia vs Uruguay

Uruguay is 9.49 times larger than New Caledonia. New Caledonia would fit into Uruguay about 9.5 times.

New CaledoniaUruguayNew Caledonia moved onto Uruguay · Equal-area projection
0.11×
New Caledonia is 0.11× the area of Uruguay. Put the other way, Uruguay is 9.49× the size of New Caledonia.
New CaledoniaUruguay
Area18,576 km²176,215 km²
Population295,3333,384,688
Density16 / km²19 / km²
CapitalNoum'eaMontevideo
RegionMelanesiaSouth America
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours02

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; Uruguay at 33° S is stretched to 1.42×. 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 Uruguay?
No. New Caledonia is 9.49 times smaller than Uruguay. New Caledonia covers 18,576 km² and Uruguay covers 176,215 km².
How many times does New Caledonia fit into Uruguay?
About 9.5 times: Uruguay has 9.49× the area of New Caledonia.
Why do New Caledonia and Uruguay 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 Uruguay about 1.42×. 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 Uruguay?
Uruguay: 3,384,688 people against 295,333. Density: New Caledonia 16 per km², Uruguay 19 per km².