Gambia vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 23.5 times larger than Gambia. Gambia would fit into Western Sahara about 24 times.
GambiaWestern SaharaGambia moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.04×
Gambia is 0.04× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 23.5× the size of Gambia.
| Gambia | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 11,300 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 2,822,093 | 612,000 |
| Density | 250 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Banjul | — |
| Region | Western Africa | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 1 | 3 |
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; 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 Gambia bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Gambia is 23.5 times smaller than Western Sahara. Gambia covers 11,300 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Gambia fit into Western Sahara?
- About 24 times: Western Sahara has 23.5× the area of Gambia.
- Why do Gambia and Western Sahara 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 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, Gambia or Western Sahara?
- Gambia: 2,822,093 people against 612,000. Density: Gambia 250 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².