Gambia vs South Africa
South Africa is 108 times larger than Gambia. Gambia would fit into South Africa about 108 times.
GambiaSouth AfricaGambia moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.01×
Gambia is 0.01× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 108× the size of Gambia.
| Gambia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 11,300 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 2,822,093 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 250 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Banjul | Pretoria |
| Region | Western Africa | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 1 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Gambia sits at about 13°N and is stretched to 1.06× 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 Gambia bigger than South Africa?
- No. Gambia is 108 times smaller than South Africa. Gambia covers 11,300 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Gambia fit into South Africa?
- About 108 times: South Africa has 108× the area of Gambia.
- Why do Gambia and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Gambia is drawn about 1.06× 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, Gambia or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 2,822,093. Density: Gambia 250 per km², South Africa 53 per km².