Guinea vs Western Sahara

Western Sahara is 8% larger than Guinea.

GuineaWestern SaharaGuinea moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.92×
Guinea is 0.92× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 1.08× the size of Guinea.
GuineaWestern Sahara
Area245,857 km²266,000 km²
Population15,099,727612,000
Density61 / km²2.3 / km²
CapitalConakry
RegionWestern AfricaNorthern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours63

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Guinea sits at about 10°N and is stretched to 1.03× 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 Guinea bigger than Western Sahara?
No. Guinea is 8% smaller than Western Sahara. Guinea covers 245,857 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
How many times does Guinea fit into Western Sahara?
About 1.1 times: Western Sahara has 1.08× the area of Guinea.
Why do Guinea and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Guinea is drawn about 1.03× 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, Guinea or Western Sahara?
Guinea: 15,099,727 people against 612,000. Density: Guinea 61 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².