Iraq vs South Africa
South Africa is 2.79 times larger than Iraq. Iraq would fit into South Africa about 2.8 times.
IraqSouth AfricaIraq moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.36×
Iraq is 0.36× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 2.79× the size of Iraq.
| Iraq | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 437,072 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 47,020,774 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 108 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Baghdad | Pretoria |
| Region | Western Asia | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 6 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Iraq sits at about 33°N and is stretched to 1.42× 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 Iraq bigger than South Africa?
- No. Iraq is 2.79 times smaller than South Africa. Iraq covers 437,072 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Iraq fit into South Africa?
- About 2.8 times: South Africa has 2.79× the area of Iraq.
- Why do Iraq and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Iraq is drawn about 1.42× 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, Iraq or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 47,020,774. Density: Iraq 108 per km², South Africa 53 per km².