Ethiopia vs Western Sahara
Ethiopia is 4.15 times larger than Western Sahara. Western Sahara would fit into Ethiopia about 4.2 times.
EthiopiaWestern SaharaEthiopia moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
4.15×
Ethiopia is 4.15× the area of Western Sahara.
| Ethiopia | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 1,104,300 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 135,472,051 | 612,000 |
| Density | 123 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Addis Ababa | — |
| Region | Eastern Africa | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 7 | 3 |
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; 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 Ethiopia bigger than Western Sahara?
- Yes. Ethiopia is 4.15 times larger than Western Sahara. Ethiopia covers 1,104,300 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Western Sahara fit into Ethiopia?
- About 4.2 times: Ethiopia has 4.15× the area of Western Sahara.
- Why do Ethiopia and Western Sahara 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 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, Ethiopia or Western Sahara?
- Ethiopia: 135,472,051 people against 612,000. Density: Ethiopia 123 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².