Indonesia vs South Africa
Indonesia is 56% larger than South Africa. South Africa would fit into Indonesia about 1.6 times.
IndonesiaSouth AfricaIndonesia moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
1.56×
Indonesia is 1.56× the area of South Africa.
| Indonesia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 1,904,570 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 285,721,236 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 150 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Jakarta | Pretoria |
| Region | South-Eastern Asia | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 3 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Indonesia sits at about 2°S and is stretched to 1.0× its true area; South Africa at 29° S is stretched to 1.31×. 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 Indonesia bigger than South Africa?
- Yes. Indonesia is 56% larger than South Africa. Indonesia covers 1,904,570 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does South Africa fit into Indonesia?
- About 1.6 times: Indonesia has 1.56× the area of South Africa.
- Why do Indonesia and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Indonesia is drawn about 1.0× its true area there and South Africa about 1.31×. 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, Indonesia or South Africa?
- Indonesia: 285,721,236 people against 64,747,319. Density: Indonesia 150 per km², South Africa 53 per km².