Lesotho vs Somalia
Somalia is 21 times larger than Lesotho. Lesotho would fit into Somalia about 21 times.
LesothoSomaliaLesotho moved onto Somalia · Equal-area projection
0.05×
Lesotho is 0.05× the area of Somalia. Put the other way, Somalia is 21× the size of Lesotho.
| Lesotho | Somalia | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 30,355 km² | 637,657 km² |
| Population | 2,363,325 | 19,654,739 |
| Density | 78 / km² | 31 / km² |
| Capital | Maseru | Mogadishu |
| Region | Southern Africa | Eastern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 1 | 3 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Lesotho sits at about 30°S and is stretched to 1.32× its true area; Somalia at 5° N is stretched to 1.01×. 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 Lesotho bigger than Somalia?
- No. Lesotho is 21 times smaller than Somalia. Lesotho covers 30,355 km² and Somalia covers 637,657 km².
- How many times does Lesotho fit into Somalia?
- About 21 times: Somalia has 21× the area of Lesotho.
- Why do Lesotho and Somalia look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Lesotho is drawn about 1.32× its true area there and Somalia about 1.01×. 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, Lesotho or Somalia?
- Somalia: 19,654,739 people against 2,363,325. Density: Lesotho 78 per km², Somalia 31 per km².