Congo vs South Africa
South Africa is 3.57 times larger than Congo. Congo would fit into South Africa about 3.6 times.
CongoSouth AfricaCongo moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.28×
Congo is 0.28× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 3.57× the size of Congo.
| Congo | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 342,000 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 6,484,437 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 19 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Brazzaville | Pretoria |
| Region | Middle Africa | 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. Congo sits at about 1°S 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 Congo bigger than South Africa?
- No. Congo is 3.57 times smaller than South Africa. Congo covers 342,000 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Congo fit into South Africa?
- About 3.6 times: South Africa has 3.57× the area of Congo.
- Why do Congo and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Congo 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, Congo or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 6,484,437. Density: Congo 19 per km², South Africa 53 per km².