Finland vs South Africa
South Africa is 3.61 times larger than Finland. Finland would fit into South Africa about 3.6 times.
FinlandSouth AfricaFinland moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.28×
Finland is 0.28× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 3.61× the size of Finland.
| Finland | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 338,478 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 5,646,436 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 17 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Helsinki | Pretoria |
| Region | Northern Europe | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 3 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Finland sits at about 64°N and is stretched to 5.3× its true area; South Africa at 29° S is stretched to 1.31×. That difference is why Finland looks so much bigger than it is next to South Africa. The figure above uses the Equal Earth projection, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
Questions about this pair
- Is Finland bigger than South Africa?
- No. Finland is 3.61 times smaller than South Africa. Finland covers 338,478 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Finland fit into South Africa?
- About 3.6 times: South Africa has 3.61× the area of Finland.
- Why do Finland and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Finland is drawn about 5.3× its true area there and South Africa about 1.31×. That is why Finland looks so much bigger than it really is next to South Africa. Kartavera uses Equal Earth, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
- Which has more people, Finland or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 5,646,436. Density: Finland 17 per km², South Africa 53 per km².