Mauritania vs Western Sahara
Mauritania is 3.87 times larger than Western Sahara. Western Sahara would fit into Mauritania about 3.9 times.
MauritaniaWestern SaharaMauritania moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
3.87×
Mauritania is 3.87× the area of Western Sahara.
| Mauritania | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 1,030,700 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 5,315,065 | 612,000 |
| Density | 5.2 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Nouakchott | — |
| Region | Western Africa | Northern 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; 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 Mauritania bigger than Western Sahara?
- Yes. Mauritania is 3.87 times larger than Western Sahara. Mauritania covers 1,030,700 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Western Sahara fit into Mauritania?
- About 3.9 times: Mauritania has 3.87× the area of Western Sahara.
- Why do Mauritania and Western Sahara 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 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, Mauritania or Western Sahara?
- Mauritania: 5,315,065 people against 612,000. Density: Mauritania 5.2 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².