Lebanon vs Western Sahara

Western Sahara is 25.4 times larger than Lebanon. Lebanon would fit into Western Sahara about 25 times.

LebanonWestern SaharaLebanon moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.04×
Lebanon is 0.04× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 25.4× the size of Lebanon.
LebanonWestern Sahara
Area10,452 km²266,000 km²
Population5,849,421612,000
Density560 / km²2.3 / km²
CapitalBeirut
RegionWestern AsiaNorthern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours23

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Lebanon sits at about 34°N and is stretched to 1.45× its true area; Western Sahara at 24° N is stretched to 1.2×. 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 Lebanon bigger than Western Sahara?
No. Lebanon is 25.4 times smaller than Western Sahara. Lebanon covers 10,452 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
How many times does Lebanon fit into Western Sahara?
About 25 times: Western Sahara has 25.4× the area of Lebanon.
Why do Lebanon and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Lebanon is drawn about 1.45× its true area there and Western Sahara about 1.2×. 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, Lebanon or Western Sahara?
Lebanon: 5,849,421 people against 612,000. Density: Lebanon 560 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².