Bhutan vs South Africa
South Africa is 31.8 times larger than Bhutan. Bhutan would fit into South Africa about 32 times.
BhutanSouth AfricaBhutan moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.03×
Bhutan is 0.03× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 31.8× the size of Bhutan.
| Bhutan | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 38,394 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 796,682 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 21 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Thimphu | Pretoria |
| Region | Southern Asia | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 2 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Bhutan sits at about 27°N and is stretched to 1.27× 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 Bhutan bigger than South Africa?
- No. Bhutan is 31.8 times smaller than South Africa. Bhutan covers 38,394 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Bhutan fit into South Africa?
- About 32 times: South Africa has 31.8× the area of Bhutan.
- Why do Bhutan and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Bhutan is drawn about 1.27× 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, Bhutan or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 796,682. Density: Bhutan 21 per km², South Africa 53 per km².