Eritrea vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 2.26 times larger than Eritrea. Eritrea would fit into Western Sahara about 2.3 times.
EritreaWestern SaharaEritrea moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.44×
Eritrea is 0.44× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 2.26× the size of Eritrea.
| Eritrea | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 117,600 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 3,607,003 | 612,000 |
| Density | 31 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Asmara | — |
| Region | Eastern Africa | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 3 | 3 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Eritrea sits at about 15°N and is stretched to 1.08× 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 Eritrea bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Eritrea is 2.26 times smaller than Western Sahara. Eritrea covers 117,600 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Eritrea fit into Western Sahara?
- About 2.3 times: Western Sahara has 2.26× the area of Eritrea.
- Why do Eritrea and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Eritrea is drawn about 1.08× 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, Eritrea or Western Sahara?
- Eritrea: 3,607,003 people against 612,000. Density: Eritrea 31 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².