Colombia vs South Africa
South Africa is 7% larger than Colombia.
ColombiaSouth AfricaColombia moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.94×
Colombia is 0.94× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 1.07× the size of Colombia.
| Colombia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 1,141,748 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 53,425,635 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 47 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Bogota | Pretoria |
| Region | South America | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 5 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Colombia sits at about 4°N and is stretched to 1.0× 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 Colombia bigger than South Africa?
- No. Colombia is 6% smaller than South Africa. Colombia covers 1,141,748 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Colombia fit into South Africa?
- About 1.1 times: South Africa has 1.07× the area of Colombia.
- Why do Colombia and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Colombia is drawn about 1.0× 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, Colombia or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 53,425,635. Density: Colombia 47 per km², South Africa 53 per km².