Mexico vs Western Sahara

Mexico is 7.42 times larger than Western Sahara. Western Sahara would fit into Mexico about 7.4 times.

MexicoWestern SaharaMexico moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
7.42×
Mexico is 7.42× the area of Western Sahara.
MexicoWestern Sahara
Area1,972,550 km²266,000 km²
Population131,946,900612,000
Density67 / km²2.3 / km²
CapitalMexico City
RegionCentral AmericaNorthern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours33

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Mexico sits at about 24°N and is stretched to 1.2× 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 Mexico bigger than Western Sahara?
Yes. Mexico is 7.42 times larger than Western Sahara. Mexico covers 1,972,550 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
How many times does Western Sahara fit into Mexico?
About 7.4 times: Mexico has 7.42× the area of Western Sahara.
Why do Mexico and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Mexico is drawn about 1.2× 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, Mexico or Western Sahara?
Mexico: 131,946,900 people against 612,000. Density: Mexico 67 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².