Israel vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 12.8 times larger than Israel. Israel would fit into Western Sahara about 13 times.
IsraelWestern SaharaIsrael moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.08×
Israel is 0.08× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 12.8× the size of Israel.
| Israel | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 20,770 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 10,122,800 | 612,000 |
| Density | 487 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Jerusalem | — |
| Region | Western Asia | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 5 | 3 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Israel sits at about 31°N and is stretched to 1.37× 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 Israel bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Israel is 12.8 times smaller than Western Sahara. Israel covers 20,770 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Israel fit into Western Sahara?
- About 13 times: Western Sahara has 12.8× the area of Israel.
- Why do Israel and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Israel is drawn about 1.37× 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, Israel or Western Sahara?
- Israel: 10,122,800 people against 612,000. Density: Israel 487 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².