Madagascar vs South Africa
South Africa is 2.08 times larger than Madagascar. Madagascar would fit into South Africa about 2.1 times.
MadagascarSouth AfricaMadagascar moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.48×
Madagascar is 0.48× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 2.08× the size of Madagascar.
| Madagascar | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 587,295 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 32,740,678 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 56 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Antananarivo | Pretoria |
| Region | Eastern Africa | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 0 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Madagascar sits at about 19°S and is stretched to 1.12× 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 Madagascar bigger than South Africa?
- No. Madagascar is 2.08 times smaller than South Africa. Madagascar covers 587,295 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Madagascar fit into South Africa?
- About 2.1 times: South Africa has 2.08× the area of Madagascar.
- Why do Madagascar and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Madagascar is drawn about 1.12× 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, Madagascar or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 32,740,678. Density: Madagascar 56 per km², South Africa 53 per km².