Ethiopia vs South Africa
South Africa is 11% larger than Ethiopia.
EthiopiaSouth AfricaEthiopia moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.9×
Ethiopia is 0.9× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 1.11× the size of Ethiopia.
| Ethiopia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 1,104,300 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 135,472,051 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 123 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Addis Ababa | Pretoria |
| Region | Eastern Africa | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 7 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Ethiopia sits at about 9°N and is stretched to 1.02× 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 Ethiopia bigger than South Africa?
- No. Ethiopia is 10% smaller than South Africa. Ethiopia covers 1,104,300 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Ethiopia fit into South Africa?
- About 1.1 times: South Africa has 1.11× the area of Ethiopia.
- Why do Ethiopia and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Ethiopia is drawn about 1.02× 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, Ethiopia or South Africa?
- Ethiopia: 135,472,051 people against 64,747,319. Density: Ethiopia 123 per km², South Africa 53 per km².