Botswana vs Nigeria
Nigeria is 59% larger than Botswana. Botswana would fit into Nigeria about 1.6 times.
BotswanaNigeriaBotswana moved onto Nigeria · Equal-area projection
0.63×
Botswana is 0.63× the area of Nigeria. Put the other way, Nigeria is 1.59× the size of Botswana.
| Botswana | Nigeria | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 581,737 km² | 923,768 km² |
| Population | 2,562,122 | 237,527,782 |
| Density | 4.4 / km² | 257 / km² |
| Capital | Gaborone | Abuja |
| Region | Southern Africa | Western 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; Nigeria at 10° N is stretched to 1.03×. 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 Nigeria?
- No. Botswana is 37% smaller than Nigeria. Botswana covers 581,737 km² and Nigeria covers 923,768 km².
- How many times does Botswana fit into Nigeria?
- About 1.6 times: Nigeria has 1.59× the area of Botswana.
- Why do Botswana and Nigeria 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 Nigeria about 1.03×. 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 Nigeria?
- Nigeria: 237,527,782 people against 2,562,122. Density: Botswana 4.4 per km², Nigeria 257 per km².