Botswana vs Namibia
Namibia is 42% larger than Botswana.
BotswanaNamibiaBotswana moved onto Namibia · Equal-area projection
0.7×
Botswana is 0.7× the area of Namibia. Put the other way, Namibia is 1.42× the size of Botswana.
| Botswana | Namibia | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 581,737 km² | 825,615 km² |
| Population | 2,562,122 | 3,092,816 |
| Density | 4.4 / km² | 3.7 / km² |
| Capital | Gaborone | Windhoek |
| Region | Southern Africa | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 3 | 4 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Botswana sits at about 22°S and is stretched to 1.17× its true area; Namibia at 22° S is stretched to 1.16×. 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 Botswana bigger than Namibia?
- No. Botswana is 30% smaller than Namibia. Botswana covers 581,737 km² and Namibia covers 825,615 km².
- How many times does Botswana fit into Namibia?
- About 1.4 times: Namibia has 1.42× the area of Botswana.
- Why do Botswana and Namibia look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Botswana is drawn about 1.17× its true area there and Namibia about 1.16×. 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, Botswana or Namibia?
- Namibia: 3,092,816 people against 2,562,122. Density: Botswana 4.4 per km², Namibia 3.7 per km².