Nigeria vs Peru

Peru is 39% larger than Nigeria.

NigeriaPeruNigeria moved onto Peru · Equal-area projection
0.72×
Nigeria is 0.72× the area of Peru. Put the other way, Peru is 1.39× the size of Nigeria.
NigeriaPeru
Area923,768 km²1,285,216 km²
Population237,527,78234,576,665
Density257 / km²27 / km²
CapitalAbujaLima
RegionWestern AfricaSouth America
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours45

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Nigeria sits at about 10°N and is stretched to 1.03× its true area; Peru at 9° S is stretched to 1.03×. 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 Nigeria bigger than Peru?
No. Nigeria is 28% smaller than Peru. Nigeria covers 923,768 km² and Peru covers 1,285,216 km².
How many times does Nigeria fit into Peru?
About 1.4 times: Peru has 1.39× the area of Nigeria.
Why do Nigeria and Peru look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Nigeria is drawn about 1.03× its true area there and Peru about 1.03×. 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, Nigeria or Peru?
Nigeria: 237,527,782 people against 34,576,665. Density: Nigeria 257 per km², Peru 27 per km².