Nearly a tie: Algeria and Democratic Republic of the Congo differ by barely 2% in area: about 2,381,741 km² against 2,344,858 km².
Both sit in Africa, so this is a same-region comparison: the new Equal Earth map draws both with the same honest geometry, and the real gap is exactly the 1.02× you see above.
The old map muddied it further: Mercator inflates Algeria about 1.3× and Democratic Republic of the Congo about 1.00×, so on a Mercator-style map this pair appears 1.3× apart instead of the true 1.02×.
Democratic Republic of the Congo fits 1× into Algeria.
Algeria vs Democratic Republic of the Congo: key figures
| Measure | Algeria | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
|---|
| True area | 2,381,741 km² · #10 | 2,344,858 km² · #11 |
| Mercator inflation | 1.3× | 1.00× |
| Apparent on Mercator | 3,058,155 km² | 2,350,720 km² |