Ghana vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 12% larger than Ghana.
GhanaWestern SaharaGhana moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.9×
Ghana is 0.9× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 1.12× the size of Ghana.
| Ghana | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 238,535 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 35,064,272 | 612,000 |
| Density | 147 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Accra | — |
| Region | Western 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. Ghana sits at about 8°N and is stretched to 1.02× 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 Ghana bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Ghana is 10% smaller than Western Sahara. Ghana covers 238,535 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Ghana fit into Western Sahara?
- About 1.1 times: Western Sahara has 1.12× the area of Ghana.
- Why do Ghana and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Ghana is drawn about 1.02× 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, Ghana or Western Sahara?
- Ghana: 35,064,272 people against 612,000. Density: Ghana 147 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².