Lesotho vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 8.76 times larger than Lesotho. Lesotho would fit into Western Sahara about 8.8 times.
LesothoWestern SaharaLesotho moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.11×
Lesotho is 0.11× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 8.76× the size of Lesotho.
| Lesotho | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 30,355 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 2,363,325 | 612,000 |
| Density | 78 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Maseru | — |
| Region | Southern Africa | Northern 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; 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 Lesotho bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Lesotho is 8.76 times smaller than Western Sahara. Lesotho covers 30,355 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Lesotho fit into Western Sahara?
- About 8.8 times: Western Sahara has 8.76× the area of Lesotho.
- Why do Lesotho and Western Sahara 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 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, Lesotho or Western Sahara?
- Lesotho: 2,363,325 people against 612,000. Density: Lesotho 78 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².