Papua New Guinea vs Somalia

Somalia is 38% larger than Papua New Guinea.

Papua New GuineaSomaliaPapua New Guinea moved onto Somalia · Equal-area projection
0.73×
Papua New Guinea is 0.73× the area of Somalia. Put the other way, Somalia is 1.38× the size of Papua New Guinea.
Papua New GuineaSomalia
Area462,840 km²637,657 km²
Population10,762,81719,654,739
Density23 / km²31 / km²
CapitalPort MoresbyMogadishu
RegionMelanesiaEastern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours13

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Papua New Guinea sits at about 6°S and is stretched to 1.01× its true area; Somalia at 5° N 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 Papua New Guinea bigger than Somalia?
No. Papua New Guinea is 27% smaller than Somalia. Papua New Guinea covers 462,840 km² and Somalia covers 637,657 km².
How many times does Papua New Guinea fit into Somalia?
About 1.4 times: Somalia has 1.38× the area of Papua New Guinea.
Why do Papua New Guinea and Somalia look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Papua New Guinea is drawn about 1.01× its true area there and Somalia 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, Papua New Guinea or Somalia?
Somalia: 19,654,739 people against 10,762,817. Density: Papua New Guinea 23 per km², Somalia 31 per km².