Mali vs Western Sahara
Mali is 4.66 times larger than Western Sahara. Western Sahara would fit into Mali about 4.7 times.
MaliWestern SaharaMali moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
4.66×
Mali is 4.66× the area of Western Sahara.
| Mali | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 1,240,192 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 25,198,821 | 612,000 |
| Density | 20 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Bamako | — |
| Region | Western Africa | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 7 | 3 |
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; 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 Mali bigger than Western Sahara?
- Yes. Mali is 4.66 times larger than Western Sahara. Mali covers 1,240,192 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Western Sahara fit into Mali?
- About 4.7 times: Mali has 4.66× the area of Western Sahara.
- Why do Mali and Western Sahara 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 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, Mali or Western Sahara?
- Mali: 25,198,821 people against 612,000. Density: Mali 20 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².