Malaysia vs Western Sahara
Malaysia is 24% larger than Western Sahara.
MalaysiaWestern SaharaMalaysia moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
1.24×
Malaysia is 1.24× the area of Western Sahara.
| Malaysia | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 330,803 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 35,977,838 | 612,000 |
| Density | 109 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Kuala Lumpur | — |
| Region | South-Eastern Asia | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | 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. Malaysia sits at about 4°N and is stretched to 1.0× 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 Malaysia bigger than Western Sahara?
- Yes. Malaysia is 24% larger than Western Sahara. Malaysia covers 330,803 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Western Sahara fit into Malaysia?
- About 1.2 times: Malaysia has 1.24× the area of Western Sahara.
- Why do Malaysia and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Malaysia is drawn about 1.0× 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, Malaysia or Western Sahara?
- Malaysia: 35,977,838 people against 612,000. Density: Malaysia 109 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².