Turkmenistan is 1.01× the size of Papua New Guinea

Turkmenistan covers about 471,000 km² (182,000 mi²) and Papua New Guinea about 465,000 km² (180,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

471,000km²Turkmenistan
465,000km²Papua New Guinea

500 km

Turkmenistan
Papua New Guinea

What fits

Papua New Guinea is 99% of the size of Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan is larger by 5,700 km² (2,200 mi²), which is 1.2% of the area of Papua New Guinea.
Measured in Belgiums: Turkmenistan is about 15.4, Papua New Guinea about 15.2.

How they differ

Turkmenistan is larger, but Papua New Guinea has the larger population: 8.9 million against 6.1 million, 1.46× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 19 in Papua New Guinea against 13 in Turkmenistan: Papua New Guinea is 1.48× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 10,100 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: Turkmenistan at 39°N is drawn about 1.7× too large and Papua New Guinea at 6°S about 1.0×, so the map shows Turkmenistan as 1.66× the size of Papua New Guinea instead of 1.01×.
Together Turkmenistan and Papua New Guinea cover 936,000 km², close to the size of Tanzania (942,000 km², 0.6% bigger).
The gap between them, 5,700 km², is about the size of Brunei (5,720 km²).
At Papua New Guinea's density, Turkmenistan would have 9.0 million people (it has 6.1 million). At Turkmenistan's density, Papua New Guinea would have 6.0 million (it has 8.9 million).
Turkmenistan's centre is 45.6° of latitude, about 5,070 km, farther north than Papua New Guinea's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Turkmenistan	1.01×
More people	Papua New Guinea	1.46×
More crowded	Papua New Guinea	1.48×
Farther north	Turkmenistan	45.6° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	Turkmenistan	1.7× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Turkmenistan	Papua New Guinea
Belgium 30,700 km²	15.4×	15.2×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	1.93×	1.91×
Germany 358,000 km²	1.32×	1.30×
Japan 374,000 km²	1.26×	1.25×
France 548,000 km²	0.86×	0.85×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.15×	0.15×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.06×	0.05×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.05×	0.05×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.03×	0.03×

Each figure is the place's area divided by the yardstick's.

Side by side

	Turkmenistan	Papua New Guinea
Area, main territory	471,000 km²182,000 mi²	465,000 km²180,000 mi²
Population	6.1 millionWikidata, 2021	8.9 millionWikidata, 2020
Density	13 per km²	19 per km²
Official area	491,000 km²Wikidata	463,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Ashgabat	Port Moresby
Latitude range	35°N to 43°N	12°S to 1°S
Continent	Asia	Oceania

Population: Wikidata 2021 and Wikidata 2020, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Our measured 471,000 km² is 4.1% below Wikidata's official figure of 491,000 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently.
Wikidata's official figure of 463,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 465,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Turkmenistan

Similar in size to Papua New Guinea

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 - Countries, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth. Main territory: the largest landmass and every part within 1,000 km of it.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outlines, shown rounded. Comparisons use main-territory area.
Drawing: Each outline is projected with an equal-area projection centred on its own centroid, so areas stay true and the two can be laid over each other.
Data built: 2026-11-11

Full method