Antarctica vs South Africa
Antarctica is 11.5 times larger than South Africa. South Africa would fit into Antarctica about 11 times.
AntarcticaSouth AfricaAntarctica moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
11.5×
Antarctica is 11.5× the area of South Africa.
| Antarctica | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 14,000,000 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 4,400 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 0.00 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | — | Pretoria |
| Region | Antarctica | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 0 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Antarctica sits at about 85°S and is stretched to 129× its true area; South Africa at 29° S is stretched to 1.31×. That difference is why Antarctica looks so much bigger than it is next to South Africa. The figure above uses the Equal Earth projection, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
Questions about this pair
- Is Antarctica bigger than South Africa?
- Yes. Antarctica is 11.5 times larger than South Africa. Antarctica covers 14,000,000 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does South Africa fit into Antarctica?
- About 11 times: Antarctica has 11.5× the area of South Africa.
- Why do Antarctica and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Antarctica is drawn about 129× its true area there and South Africa about 1.31×. That is why Antarctica looks so much bigger than it really is next to South Africa. Kartavera uses Equal Earth, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
- Which has more people, Antarctica or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 4,400. Density: Antarctica 0.00 per km², South Africa 53 per km².