Laos vs South Africa
South Africa is 5.16 times larger than Laos. Laos would fit into South Africa about 5.2 times.
LaosSouth AfricaLaos moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.19×
Laos is 0.19× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 5.16× the size of Laos.
| Laos | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 236,800 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 7,873,046 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 33 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Vientiane | Pretoria |
| Region | South-Eastern Asia | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | 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. Laos sits at about 18°N and is stretched to 1.11× 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 Laos bigger than South Africa?
- No. Laos is 5.16 times smaller than South Africa. Laos covers 236,800 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Laos fit into South Africa?
- About 5.2 times: South Africa has 5.16× the area of Laos.
- Why do Laos and South Africa 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 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, Laos or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 7,873,046. Density: Laos 33 per km², South Africa 53 per km².