Malawi vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 2.25 times larger than Malawi. Malawi would fit into Western Sahara about 2.2 times.
MalawiWestern SaharaMalawi moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.45×
Malawi is 0.45× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 2.25× the size of Malawi.
| Malawi | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 118,484 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 22,216,120 | 612,000 |
| Density | 188 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Lilongwe | — |
| Region | Eastern Africa | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 3 | 3 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Malawi sits at about 13°S and is stretched to 1.06× 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 Malawi bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Malawi is 2.25 times smaller than Western Sahara. Malawi covers 118,484 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Malawi fit into Western Sahara?
- About 2.2 times: Western Sahara has 2.25× the area of Malawi.
- Why do Malawi and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Malawi is drawn about 1.06× 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, Malawi or Western Sahara?
- Malawi: 22,216,120 people against 612,000. Density: Malawi 188 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².