Eswatini vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 15.3 times larger than Eswatini. Eswatini would fit into Western Sahara about 15 times.
EswatiniWestern SaharaEswatini moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.07×
Eswatini is 0.07× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 15.3× the size of Eswatini.
| Eswatini | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 17,364 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 1,256,174 | 612,000 |
| Density | 72 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Mbabane | — |
| Region | Southern Africa | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | 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. Eswatini sits at about 27°S and is stretched to 1.25× 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 Eswatini bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Eswatini is 15.3 times smaller than Western Sahara. Eswatini covers 17,364 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Eswatini fit into Western Sahara?
- About 15 times: Western Sahara has 15.3× the area of Eswatini.
- Why do Eswatini and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Eswatini is drawn about 1.25× 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, Eswatini or Western Sahara?
- Eswatini: 1,256,174 people against 612,000. Density: Eswatini 72 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².