Kenya vs South Africa
South Africa is 2.1 times larger than Kenya. Kenya would fit into South Africa about 2.1 times.
KenyaSouth AfricaKenya moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.48×
Kenya is 0.48× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 2.1× the size of Kenya.
| Kenya | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 581,309 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 57,532,493 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 99 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Nairobi | Pretoria |
| Region | Eastern Africa | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 5 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Kenya sits at about 1°N 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 Kenya bigger than South Africa?
- No. Kenya is 2.1 times smaller than South Africa. Kenya covers 581,309 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Kenya fit into South Africa?
- About 2.1 times: South Africa has 2.1× the area of Kenya.
- Why do Kenya and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Kenya 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, Kenya or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 57,532,493. Density: Kenya 99 per km², South Africa 53 per km².