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French Polynesia vs Western Sahara

Western Sahara is 63.8 times larger than French Polynesia. French Polynesia would fit into Western Sahara about 64 times.

French PolynesiaWestern SaharaFrench Polynesia moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.02×
French Polynesia is 0.02× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 63.8× the size of French Polynesia.
French PolynesiaWestern Sahara
Area4,167 km²266,000 km²
Population282,465612,000
Density68 / km²2.3 / km²
CapitalPapeete—
RegionPolynesiaNorthern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours03

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. French Polynesia sits at about 15°S and is stretched to 1.07× 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.

Open in the atlasLay Western Sahara over French Polynesia

Questions about this pair

Is French Polynesia bigger than Western Sahara?
No. French Polynesia is 63.8 times smaller than Western Sahara. French Polynesia covers 4,167 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
How many times does French Polynesia fit into Western Sahara?
About 64 times: Western Sahara has 63.8× the area of French Polynesia.
Why do French Polynesia and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. French Polynesia is drawn about 1.07× 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, French Polynesia or Western Sahara?
Western Sahara: 612,000 people against 282,465. Density: French Polynesia 68 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².
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