Mauritania vs Somalia
Mauritania is 62% larger than Somalia. Somalia would fit into Mauritania about 1.6 times.
MauritaniaSomaliaMauritania moved onto Somalia · Equal-area projection
1.62×
Mauritania is 1.62× the area of Somalia.
| Mauritania | Somalia | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 1,030,700 km² | 637,657 km² |
| Population | 5,315,065 | 19,654,739 |
| Density | 5.2 / km² | 31 / km² |
| Capital | Nouakchott | Mogadishu |
| Region | Western Africa | Eastern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 4 | 3 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Mauritania sits at about 20°N and is stretched to 1.14× its true area; Somalia at 5° N is stretched to 1.01×. 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 Mauritania bigger than Somalia?
- Yes. Mauritania is 62% larger than Somalia. Mauritania covers 1,030,700 km² and Somalia covers 637,657 km².
- How many times does Somalia fit into Mauritania?
- About 1.6 times: Mauritania has 1.62× the area of Somalia.
- Why do Mauritania and Somalia look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Mauritania is drawn about 1.14× its true area there and Somalia about 1.01×. 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, Mauritania or Somalia?
- Somalia: 19,654,739 people against 5,315,065. Density: Mauritania 5.2 per km², Somalia 31 per km².