Chagos Islands vs South Africa
South Africa is 20,351 times larger than Chagos Islands. Chagos Islands would fit into South Africa about 20351 times.
Chagos IslandsSouth AfricaChagos Islands moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.0×
Chagos Islands is 0.0× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 20,351× the size of Chagos Islands.
| Chagos Islands | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 60 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 3,000 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 50 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Diego Garcia | Pretoria |
| Region | Seven seas (open ocean) | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 0 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Chagos Islands sits at about 7°S and is stretched to 1.02× 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 Chagos Islands bigger than South Africa?
- No. Chagos Islands is 20,351 times smaller than South Africa. Chagos Islands covers 60 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Chagos Islands fit into South Africa?
- About 20351 times: South Africa has 20,351× the area of Chagos Islands.
- Why do Chagos Islands and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Chagos Islands is drawn about 1.02× 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, Chagos Islands or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 3,000. Density: Chagos Islands 50 per km², South Africa 53 per km².