Botswana vs Zambia
Zambia is 29% larger than Botswana.
BotswanaZambiaBotswana moved onto Zambia · Equal-area projection
0.77×
Botswana is 0.77× the area of Zambia. Put the other way, Zambia is 1.29× the size of Botswana.
| Botswana | Zambia | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 581,737 km² | 752,618 km² |
| Population | 2,562,122 | 21,913,874 |
| Density | 4.4 / km² | 29 / km² |
| Capital | Gaborone | Lusaka |
| Region | Southern Africa | Eastern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Landlocked |
| Neighbours | 3 | 7 |
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; Zambia at 13° S is stretched to 1.06×. 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 Zambia?
- No. Botswana is 23% smaller than Zambia. Botswana covers 581,737 km² and Zambia covers 752,618 km².
- How many times does Botswana fit into Zambia?
- About 1.3 times: Zambia has 1.29× the area of Botswana.
- Why do Botswana and Zambia 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 Zambia about 1.06×. 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 Zambia?
- Zambia: 21,913,874 people against 2,562,122. Density: Botswana 4.4 per km², Zambia 29 per km².