Solomon Islands vs Taiwan

Taiwan is 27% larger than Solomon Islands.

Solomon IslandsTaiwanSolomon Islands moved onto Taiwan · Equal-area projection
0.78×
Solomon Islands is 0.78× the area of Taiwan. Put the other way, Taiwan is 1.27× the size of Solomon Islands.
Solomon IslandsTaiwan
Area28,400 km²36,193 km²
Population838,64523,262,544
Density30 / km²643 / km²
CapitalHoniaraTaipei
RegionMelanesiaEastern Asia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours00

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Solomon Islands sits at about 9°S and is stretched to 1.02× its true area; Taiwan at 24° N is stretched to 1.19×. 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 Solomon Islands bigger than Taiwan?
No. Solomon Islands is 22% smaller than Taiwan. Solomon Islands covers 28,400 km² and Taiwan covers 36,193 km².
How many times does Solomon Islands fit into Taiwan?
About 1.3 times: Taiwan has 1.27× the area of Solomon Islands.
Why do Solomon Islands and Taiwan look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Solomon Islands is drawn about 1.02× its true area there and Taiwan about 1.19×. 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, Solomon Islands or Taiwan?
Taiwan: 23,262,544 people against 838,645. Density: Solomon Islands 30 per km², Taiwan 643 per km².