Barbados vs Western Sahara

Western Sahara is 606 times larger than Barbados. Barbados would fit into Western Sahara about 606 times.

BarbadosWestern SaharaBarbados moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.0×
Barbados is 0.0× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 606× the size of Barbados.
BarbadosWestern Sahara
Area439 km²266,000 km²
Population282,623612,000
Density644 / km²2.3 / km²
CapitalBridgetown
RegionCaribbeanNorthern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours03

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Barbados sits at about 13°N and is stretched to 1.05× 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 Barbados bigger than Western Sahara?
No. Barbados is 606 times smaller than Western Sahara. Barbados covers 439 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
How many times does Barbados fit into Western Sahara?
About 606 times: Western Sahara has 606× the area of Barbados.
Why do Barbados and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Barbados is drawn about 1.05× 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, Barbados or Western Sahara?
Western Sahara: 612,000 people against 282,623. Density: Barbados 644 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².