Mozambique vs South Africa
South Africa is 52% larger than Mozambique. Mozambique would fit into South Africa about 1.5 times.
MozambiqueSouth AfricaMozambique moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.66×
Mozambique is 0.66× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 1.52× the size of Mozambique.
| Mozambique | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 801,590 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 35,631,653 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 44 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Maputo | Pretoria |
| Region | Eastern Africa | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 6 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Mozambique sits at about 17°S 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 Mozambique bigger than South Africa?
- No. Mozambique is 34% smaller than South Africa. Mozambique covers 801,590 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Mozambique fit into South Africa?
- About 1.5 times: South Africa has 1.52× the area of Mozambique.
- Why do Mozambique and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Mozambique 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, Mozambique or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 35,631,653. Density: Mozambique 44 per km², South Africa 53 per km².