Bolivia vs South Africa
South Africa is 11% larger than Bolivia.
BoliviaSouth AfricaBolivia moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.9×
Bolivia is 0.9× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 1.11× the size of Bolivia.
| Bolivia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 1,098,581 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 12,581,843 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 11 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | La Paz | Pretoria |
| Region | South America | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 5 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Bolivia sits at about 17°S and is stretched to 1.09× 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 Bolivia bigger than South Africa?
- No. Bolivia is 10% smaller than South Africa. Bolivia covers 1,098,581 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Bolivia fit into South Africa?
- About 1.1 times: South Africa has 1.11× the area of Bolivia.
- Why do Bolivia and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Bolivia is drawn about 1.09× 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, Bolivia or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 12,581,843. Density: Bolivia 11 per km², South Africa 53 per km².