Guinea-Bissau vs Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone is 99% larger than Guinea-Bissau. Guinea-Bissau would fit into Sierra Leone about 2.0 times.
Guinea-BissauSierra LeoneGuinea-Bissau moved onto Sierra Leone · Equal-area projection
0.5×
Guinea-Bissau is 0.5× the area of Sierra Leone. Put the other way, Sierra Leone is 1.99× the size of Guinea-Bissau.
| Guinea-Bissau | Sierra Leone | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 36,125 km² | 71,740 km² |
| Population | 2,249,515 | 8,819,794 |
| Density | 62 / km² | 123 / km² |
| Capital | Bissau | Freetown |
| Region | Western Africa | Western Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 2 | 2 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Guinea-Bissau sits at about 12°N and is stretched to 1.05× its true area; Sierra Leone at 9° N is stretched to 1.02×. 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 Guinea-Bissau bigger than Sierra Leone?
- No. Guinea-Bissau is 50% smaller than Sierra Leone. Guinea-Bissau covers 36,125 km² and Sierra Leone covers 71,740 km².
- How many times does Guinea-Bissau fit into Sierra Leone?
- About 2.0 times: Sierra Leone has 1.99× the area of Guinea-Bissau.
- Why do Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Guinea-Bissau is drawn about 1.05× its true area there and Sierra Leone about 1.02×. 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, Guinea-Bissau or Sierra Leone?
- Sierra Leone: 8,819,794 people against 2,249,515. Density: Guinea-Bissau 62 per km², Sierra Leone 123 per km².