Botswana vs South Africa
South Africa is 2.1 times larger than Botswana. Botswana would fit into South Africa about 2.1 times.
BotswanaSouth AfricaBotswana moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.48×
Botswana is 0.48× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 2.1× the size of Botswana.
| Botswana | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 581,737 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 2,562,122 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 4.4 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Gaborone | Pretoria |
| Region | Southern Africa | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 3 | 6 |
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; 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 Botswana bigger than South Africa?
- No. Botswana is 2.1 times smaller than South Africa. Botswana covers 581,737 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Botswana fit into South Africa?
- About 2.1 times: South Africa has 2.1× the area of Botswana.
- Why do Botswana and South Africa 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 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, Botswana or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 2,562,122. Density: Botswana 4.4 per km², South Africa 53 per km².