Afghanistan vs Botswana

Afghanistan is 12% larger than Botswana.

AfghanistanBotswanaAfghanistan moved onto Botswana · Equal-area projection
1.12×
Afghanistan is 1.12× the area of Botswana.
AfghanistanBotswana
Area652,230 km²581,737 km²
Population43,844,1112,562,122
Density67 / km²4.4 / km²
CapitalKabulGaborone
RegionSouthern AsiaSouthern Africa
CoastlineLandlockedLandlocked
Neighbours63

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Afghanistan sits at about 34°N and is stretched to 1.45× its true area; Botswana at 22° S is stretched to 1.17×. 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 Afghanistan bigger than Botswana?
Yes. Afghanistan is 12% larger than Botswana. Afghanistan covers 652,230 km² and Botswana covers 581,737 km².
How many times does Botswana fit into Afghanistan?
About 1.1 times: Afghanistan has 1.12× the area of Botswana.
Why do Afghanistan and Botswana look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Afghanistan is drawn about 1.45× its true area there and Botswana about 1.17×. 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, Afghanistan or Botswana?
Afghanistan: 43,844,111 people against 2,562,122. Density: Afghanistan 67 per km², Botswana 4.4 per km².