Nicaragua vs Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is 3.85 times larger than Nicaragua. Nicaragua would fit into Papua New Guinea about 3.8 times.

NicaraguaPapua New GuineaNicaragua moved onto Papua New Guinea · Equal-area projection
0.26×
Nicaragua is 0.26× the area of Papua New Guinea. Put the other way, Papua New Guinea is 3.85× the size of Nicaragua.
NicaraguaPapua New Guinea
Area120,340 km²462,840 km²
Population7,007,50210,762,817
Density58 / km²23 / km²
CapitalManaguaPort Moresby
RegionCentral AmericaMelanesia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours21

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Nicaragua sits at about 13°N and is stretched to 1.05× 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 Nicaragua bigger than Papua New Guinea?
No. Nicaragua is 3.85 times smaller than Papua New Guinea. Nicaragua covers 120,340 km² and Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km².
How many times does Nicaragua fit into Papua New Guinea?
About 3.8 times: Papua New Guinea has 3.85× the area of Nicaragua.
Why do Nicaragua and Papua New Guinea look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Nicaragua is drawn about 1.05× 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, Nicaragua or Papua New Guinea?
Papua New Guinea: 10,762,817 people against 7,007,502. Density: Nicaragua 58 per km², Papua New Guinea 23 per km².