Chile vs South Africa
South Africa is 61% larger than Chile. Chile would fit into South Africa about 1.6 times.
ChileSouth AfricaChile moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.62×
Chile is 0.62× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 1.61× the size of Chile.
| Chile | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 756,102 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 19,859,921 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 26 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Santiago | Pretoria |
| Region | South America | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | 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. Chile sits at about 36°S and is stretched to 1.53× 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 Chile bigger than South Africa?
- No. Chile is 38% smaller than South Africa. Chile covers 756,102 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Chile fit into South Africa?
- About 1.6 times: South Africa has 1.61× the area of Chile.
- Why do Chile and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Chile is drawn about 1.53× 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, Chile or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 19,859,921. Density: Chile 26 per km², South Africa 53 per km².