Palau vs Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is 993 times larger than Palau. Palau would fit into Papua New Guinea about 993 times.

PalauPapua New GuineaPalau moved onto Papua New Guinea · Equal-area projection
0.0×
Palau is 0.0× the area of Papua New Guinea. Put the other way, Papua New Guinea is 993× the size of Palau.
PalauPapua New Guinea
Area466 km²462,840 km²
Population17,66310,762,817
Density38 / km²23 / km²
CapitalKororPort Moresby
RegionMicronesiaMelanesia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours01

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Palau sits at about 7°N and is stretched to 1.02× 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 Palau bigger than Papua New Guinea?
No. Palau is 993 times smaller than Papua New Guinea. Palau covers 466 km² and Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km².
How many times does Palau fit into Papua New Guinea?
About 993 times: Papua New Guinea has 993× the area of Palau.
Why do Palau and Papua New Guinea look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Palau is drawn about 1.02× 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, Palau or Papua New Guinea?
Papua New Guinea: 10,762,817 people against 17,663. Density: Palau 38 per km², Papua New Guinea 23 per km².