Botswana vs Somalia
Somalia is 10% larger than Botswana.
BotswanaSomaliaBotswana moved onto Somalia · Equal-area projection
0.91×
Botswana is 0.91× the area of Somalia. Put the other way, Somalia is 1.1× the size of Botswana.
| Botswana | Somalia | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 581,737 km² | 637,657 km² |
| Population | 2,562,122 | 19,654,739 |
| Density | 4.4 / km² | 31 / km² |
| Capital | Gaborone | Mogadishu |
| Region | Southern Africa | Eastern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 3 | 3 |
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; Somalia at 5° N is stretched to 1.01×. 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 Somalia?
- No. Botswana is 9% smaller than Somalia. Botswana covers 581,737 km² and Somalia covers 637,657 km².
- How many times does Botswana fit into Somalia?
- About 1.1 times: Somalia has 1.1× the area of Botswana.
- Why do Botswana and Somalia 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 Somalia about 1.01×. 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 Somalia?
- Somalia: 19,654,739 people against 2,562,122. Density: Botswana 4.4 per km², Somalia 31 per km².