Iran vs South Africa
Iran is 35% larger than South Africa.
IranSouth AfricaIran moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
1.35×
Iran is 1.35× the area of South Africa.
| Iran | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 1,648,195 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 92,417,681 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 56 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Tehran | Pretoria |
| Region | Southern Asia | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 7 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Iran sits at about 33°N and is stretched to 1.41× 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 Iran bigger than South Africa?
- Yes. Iran is 35% larger than South Africa. Iran covers 1,648,195 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does South Africa fit into Iran?
- About 1.3 times: Iran has 1.35× the area of South Africa.
- Why do Iran and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Iran is drawn about 1.41× 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, Iran or South Africa?
- Iran: 92,417,681 people against 64,747,319. Density: Iran 56 per km², South Africa 53 per km².