Costa Rica vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 5.2 times larger than Costa Rica. Costa Rica would fit into Western Sahara about 5.2 times.
Costa RicaWestern SaharaCosta Rica moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.19×
Costa Rica is 0.19× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 5.2× the size of Costa Rica.
| Costa Rica | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 51,180 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 5,152,950 | 612,000 |
| Density | 101 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | San Jose | — |
| Region | Central America | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 2 | 3 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Costa Rica sits at about 10°N and is stretched to 1.03× 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 Costa Rica bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Costa Rica is 5.2 times smaller than Western Sahara. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Costa Rica fit into Western Sahara?
- About 5.2 times: Western Sahara has 5.2× the area of Costa Rica.
- Why do Costa Rica and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Costa Rica is drawn about 1.03× 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, Costa Rica or Western Sahara?
- Costa Rica: 5,152,950 people against 612,000. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².