Afghanistan vs Western Sahara
Afghanistan is 2.45 times larger than Western Sahara. Western Sahara would fit into Afghanistan about 2.5 times.
AfghanistanWestern SaharaAfghanistan moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
2.45×
Afghanistan is 2.45× the area of Western Sahara.
| Afghanistan | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 652,230 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 43,844,111 | 612,000 |
| Density | 67 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Kabul | — |
| Region | Southern Asia | Northern 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; Western Sahara at 24° N is stretched to 1.2×. 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 Western Sahara?
- Yes. Afghanistan is 2.45 times larger than Western Sahara. Afghanistan covers 652,230 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Western Sahara fit into Afghanistan?
- About 2.5 times: Afghanistan has 2.45× the area of Western Sahara.
- Why do Afghanistan and Western Sahara 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 Western Sahara about 1.2×. 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 Western Sahara?
- Afghanistan: 43,844,111 people against 612,000. Density: Afghanistan 67 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².