Mozambique vs Western Sahara

Mozambique is 3.01 times larger than Western Sahara. Western Sahara would fit into Mozambique about 3.0 times.

MozambiqueWestern SaharaMozambique moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
3.01×
Mozambique is 3.01× the area of Western Sahara.
MozambiqueWestern Sahara
Area801,590 km²266,000 km²
Population35,631,653612,000
Density44 / km²2.3 / km²
CapitalMaputo
RegionEastern AfricaNorthern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours63

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; 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 Mozambique bigger than Western Sahara?
Yes. Mozambique is 3.01 times larger than Western Sahara. Mozambique covers 801,590 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
How many times does Western Sahara fit into Mozambique?
About 3.0 times: Mozambique has 3.01× the area of Western Sahara.
Why do Mozambique and Western Sahara 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 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, Mozambique or Western Sahara?
Mozambique: 35,631,653 people against 612,000. Density: Mozambique 44 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².