Kuwait vs South Africa

South Africa is 68.5 times larger than Kuwait. Kuwait would fit into South Africa about 69 times.

KuwaitSouth AfricaKuwait moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.01×
Kuwait is 0.01× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 68.5× the size of Kuwait.
KuwaitSouth Africa
Area17,818 km²1,221,037 km²
Population4,865,29864,747,319
Density273 / km²53 / km²
CapitalKuwait CityPretoria
RegionWestern AsiaSouthern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours26

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Kuwait sits at about 29°N and is stretched to 1.32× 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 Kuwait bigger than South Africa?
No. Kuwait is 68.5 times smaller than South Africa. Kuwait covers 17,818 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
How many times does Kuwait fit into South Africa?
About 69 times: South Africa has 68.5× the area of Kuwait.
Why do Kuwait and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Kuwait is drawn about 1.32× 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, Kuwait or South Africa?
South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 4,865,298. Density: Kuwait 273 per km², South Africa 53 per km².