Afghanistan vs Somalia
Afghanistan and Somalia are almost exactly the same size.
AfghanistanSomaliaAfghanistan moved onto Somalia · Equal-area projection
1.02×
Afghanistan is 1.02× the area of Somalia.
| Afghanistan | Somalia | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 652,230 km² | 637,657 km² |
| Population | 43,844,111 | 19,654,739 |
| Density | 67 / km² | 31 / km² |
| Capital | Kabul | Mogadishu |
| Region | Southern Asia | Eastern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 6 | 3 |
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; Somalia at 5° N is stretched to 1.01×. 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 Somalia?
- Yes. Afghanistan and Somalia are almost exactly the same size. Afghanistan covers 652,230 km² and Somalia covers 637,657 km².
- How many times does Somalia fit into Afghanistan?
- About 1.0 times: Afghanistan has 1.02× the area of Somalia.
- Why do Afghanistan and Somalia 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 Somalia about 1.01×. 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 Somalia?
- Afghanistan: 43,844,111 people against 19,654,739. Density: Afghanistan 67 per km², Somalia 31 per km².