Gabon vs Western Sahara
Gabon and Western Sahara are almost exactly the same size.
GabonWestern SaharaGabon moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
1.01×
Gabon is 1.01× the area of Western Sahara.
| Gabon | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 267,667 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 2,593,130 | 612,000 |
| Density | 9.7 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Libreville | — |
| Region | Middle Africa | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 3 | 3 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Gabon sits at about 1°S and is stretched to 1.0× 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 Gabon bigger than Western Sahara?
- Yes. Gabon and Western Sahara are almost exactly the same size. Gabon covers 267,667 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Western Sahara fit into Gabon?
- About 1.0 times: Gabon has 1.01× the area of Western Sahara.
- Why do Gabon and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Gabon is drawn about 1.0× 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, Gabon or Western Sahara?
- Gabon: 2,593,130 people against 612,000. Density: Gabon 9.7 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².