Afghanistan vs Mauritania

Mauritania is 58% larger than Afghanistan. Afghanistan would fit into Mauritania about 1.6 times.

AfghanistanMauritaniaAfghanistan moved onto Mauritania · Equal-area projection
0.63×
Afghanistan is 0.63× the area of Mauritania. Put the other way, Mauritania is 1.58× the size of Afghanistan.
AfghanistanMauritania
Area652,230 km²1,030,700 km²
Population43,844,1115,315,065
Density67 / km²5.2 / km²
CapitalKabulNouakchott
RegionSouthern AsiaWestern Africa
CoastlineLandlockedHas a coast
Neighbours64

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; Mauritania at 20° N is stretched to 1.14×. 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 Mauritania?
No. Afghanistan is 37% smaller than Mauritania. Afghanistan covers 652,230 km² and Mauritania covers 1,030,700 km².
How many times does Afghanistan fit into Mauritania?
About 1.6 times: Mauritania has 1.58× the area of Afghanistan.
Why do Afghanistan and Mauritania 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 Mauritania about 1.14×. 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 Mauritania?
Afghanistan: 43,844,111 people against 5,315,065. Density: Afghanistan 67 per km², Mauritania 5.2 per km².