Cuba vs Western Sahara

Western Sahara is 2.42 times larger than Cuba. Cuba would fit into Western Sahara about 2.4 times.

CubaWestern SaharaCuba moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.41×
Cuba is 0.41× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 2.42× the size of Cuba.
CubaWestern Sahara
Area109,884 km²266,000 km²
Population10,937,203612,000
Density100 / km²2.3 / km²
CapitalHavana
RegionCaribbeanNorthern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours03

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Cuba sits at about 22°N and is stretched to 1.16× 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 Cuba bigger than Western Sahara?
No. Cuba is 2.42 times smaller than Western Sahara. Cuba covers 109,884 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
How many times does Cuba fit into Western Sahara?
About 2.4 times: Western Sahara has 2.42× the area of Cuba.
Why do Cuba and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Cuba is drawn about 1.16× 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, Cuba or Western Sahara?
Cuba: 10,937,203 people against 612,000. Density: Cuba 100 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².