Cameroon vs South Africa

South Africa is 2.57 times larger than Cameroon. Cameroon would fit into South Africa about 2.6 times.

CameroonSouth AfricaCameroon moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.39×
Cameroon is 0.39× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 2.57× the size of Cameroon.
CameroonSouth Africa
Area475,442 km²1,221,037 km²
Population29,879,33764,747,319
Density63 / km²53 / km²
CapitalYaoundePretoria
RegionMiddle AfricaSouthern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours66

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Cameroon sits at about 6°N and is stretched to 1.01× 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 Cameroon bigger than South Africa?
No. Cameroon is 2.57 times smaller than South Africa. Cameroon covers 475,442 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
How many times does Cameroon fit into South Africa?
About 2.6 times: South Africa has 2.57× the area of Cameroon.
Why do Cameroon and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Cameroon is drawn about 1.01× 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, Cameroon or South Africa?
South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 29,879,337. Density: Cameroon 63 per km², South Africa 53 per km².