Mali vs South Africa
Mali and South Africa are almost exactly the same size.
MaliSouth AfricaMali moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
1.02×
Mali is 1.02× the area of South Africa.
| Mali | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 1,240,192 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 25,198,821 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 20 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Bamako | Pretoria |
| Region | Western Africa | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 7 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Mali sits at about 17°N and is stretched to 1.1× 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 Mali bigger than South Africa?
- Yes. Mali and South Africa are almost exactly the same size. Mali covers 1,240,192 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does South Africa fit into Mali?
- About 1.0 times: Mali has 1.02× the area of South Africa.
- Why do Mali and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Mali is drawn about 1.1× 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, Mali or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 25,198,821. Density: Mali 20 per km², South Africa 53 per km².