Somalia vs Syria

Somalia is 3.44 times larger than Syria. Syria would fit into Somalia about 3.4 times.

SomaliaSyriaSomalia moved onto Syria · Equal-area projection
3.44×
Somalia is 3.44× the area of Syria.
SomaliaSyria
Area637,657 km²185,180 km²
Population19,654,73925,620,427
Density31 / km²138 / km²
CapitalMogadishuDamascus
RegionEastern AfricaWestern Asia
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours35

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Somalia sits at about 5°N and is stretched to 1.01× its true area; Syria at 35° N is stretched to 1.49×. 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 Somalia bigger than Syria?
Yes. Somalia is 3.44 times larger than Syria. Somalia covers 637,657 km² and Syria covers 185,180 km².
How many times does Syria fit into Somalia?
About 3.4 times: Somalia has 3.44× the area of Syria.
Why do Somalia and Syria look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Somalia is drawn about 1.01× its true area there and Syria about 1.49×. 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, Somalia or Syria?
Syria: 25,620,427 people against 19,654,739. Density: Somalia 31 per km², Syria 138 per km².