Benin vs South Africa
South Africa is 10.6 times larger than Benin. Benin would fit into South Africa about 11 times.
BeninSouth AfricaBenin moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.09×
Benin is 0.09× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 10.6× the size of Benin.
| Benin | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 114,763 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 14,814,460 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 129 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Porto-Novo | Pretoria |
| Region | Western Africa | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 4 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Benin sits at about 10°N and is stretched to 1.03× its true area; South Africa at 29° S is stretched to 1.31×. 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 Benin bigger than South Africa?
- No. Benin is 10.6 times smaller than South Africa. Benin covers 114,763 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Benin fit into South Africa?
- About 11 times: South Africa has 10.6× the area of Benin.
- Why do Benin and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Benin is drawn about 1.03× its true area there and South Africa about 1.31×. 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, Benin or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 14,814,460. Density: Benin 129 per km², South Africa 53 per km².