Heard and McDonald Islands vs South Africa
South Africa is 3,318 times larger than Heard and McDonald Islands. Heard and McDonald Islands would fit into South Africa about 3318 times.
Heard and McDonald IslandsSouth AfricaHeard and McDonald Islands moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.0×
Heard and McDonald Islands is 0.0× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 3,318× the size of Heard and McDonald Islands.
| Heard and McDonald Islands | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 368 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | — | 64,747,319 |
| Density | — | 53 / km² |
| Capital | — | Pretoria |
| Region | Seven seas (open ocean) | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 0 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Heard and McDonald Islands sits at about 53°S and is stretched to 2.77× its true area; South Africa at 29° S is stretched to 1.31×. That difference is why Heard and McDonald Islands looks so much bigger than it is next to South Africa. The figure above uses the Equal Earth projection, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
Questions about this pair
- Is Heard and McDonald Islands bigger than South Africa?
- No. Heard and McDonald Islands is 3,318 times smaller than South Africa. Heard and McDonald Islands covers 368 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Heard and McDonald Islands fit into South Africa?
- About 3318 times: South Africa has 3,318× the area of Heard and McDonald Islands.
- Why do Heard and McDonald Islands and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Heard and McDonald Islands is drawn about 2.77× its true area there and South Africa about 1.31×. That is why Heard and McDonald Islands looks so much bigger than it really is next to South Africa. Kartavera uses Equal Earth, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.