Cameroon vs Western Sahara

Cameroon is 79% larger than Western Sahara. Western Sahara would fit into Cameroon about 1.8 times.

CameroonWestern SaharaCameroon moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
1.79×
Cameroon is 1.79× the area of Western Sahara.
CameroonWestern Sahara
Area475,442 km²266,000 km²
Population29,879,337612,000
Density63 / km²2.3 / km²
CapitalYaounde
RegionMiddle AfricaNorthern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours63

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; Western Sahara at 24° N is stretched to 1.2×. 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 Western Sahara?
Yes. Cameroon is 79% larger than Western Sahara. Cameroon covers 475,442 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
How many times does Western Sahara fit into Cameroon?
About 1.8 times: Cameroon has 1.79× the area of Western Sahara.
Why do Cameroon and Western Sahara 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 Western Sahara about 1.2×. 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 Western Sahara?
Cameroon: 29,879,337 people against 612,000. Density: Cameroon 63 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².