Laos vs Mauritania
Mauritania is 4.35 times larger than Laos. Laos would fit into Mauritania about 4.4 times.
LaosMauritaniaLaos moved onto Mauritania · Equal-area projection
0.23×
Laos is 0.23× the area of Mauritania. Put the other way, Mauritania is 4.35× the size of Laos.
| Laos | Mauritania | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 236,800 km² | 1,030,700 km² |
| Population | 7,873,046 | 5,315,065 |
| Density | 33 / km² | 5.2 / km² |
| Capital | Vientiane | Nouakchott |
| Region | South-Eastern Asia | Western Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 5 | 4 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Laos sits at about 18°N and is stretched to 1.11× its true area; Mauritania at 20° N is stretched to 1.14×. 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 Laos bigger than Mauritania?
- No. Laos is 4.35 times smaller than Mauritania. Laos covers 236,800 km² and Mauritania covers 1,030,700 km².
- How many times does Laos fit into Mauritania?
- About 4.4 times: Mauritania has 4.35× the area of Laos.
- Why do Laos and Mauritania look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Laos is drawn about 1.11× its true area there and Mauritania about 1.14×. 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, Laos or Mauritania?
- Laos: 7,873,046 people against 5,315,065. Density: Laos 33 per km², Mauritania 5.2 per km².