Latvia vs South Africa
South Africa is 18.9 times larger than Latvia. Latvia would fit into South Africa about 19 times.
LatviaSouth AfricaLatvia moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.05×
Latvia is 0.05× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 18.9× the size of Latvia.
| Latvia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 64,594 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 1,847,785 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 29 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Riga | Pretoria |
| Region | Northern Europe | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 4 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Latvia sits at about 57°N and is stretched to 3.35× its true area; South Africa at 29° S is stretched to 1.31×. That difference is why Latvia looks so much bigger than it is next to South Africa. The figure above uses the Equal Earth projection, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
Questions about this pair
- Is Latvia bigger than South Africa?
- No. Latvia is 18.9 times smaller than South Africa. Latvia covers 64,594 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Latvia fit into South Africa?
- About 19 times: South Africa has 18.9× the area of Latvia.
- Why do Latvia and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Latvia is drawn about 3.35× its true area there and South Africa about 1.31×. That is why Latvia looks so much bigger than it really is next to South Africa. Kartavera uses Equal Earth, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
- Which has more people, Latvia or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 1,847,785. Density: Latvia 29 per km², South Africa 53 per km².