Myanmar vs South Africa

South Africa is 80% larger than Myanmar. Myanmar would fit into South Africa about 1.8 times.

MyanmarSouth AfricaMyanmar moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.55×
Myanmar is 0.55× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 1.8× the size of Myanmar.
MyanmarSouth Africa
Area676,577 km²1,221,037 km²
Population54,850,64864,747,319
Density81 / km²53 / km²
CapitalNaypyidawPretoria
RegionSouth-Eastern AsiaSouthern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours56

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Myanmar sits at about 21°N and is stretched to 1.15× 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 Myanmar bigger than South Africa?
No. Myanmar is 45% smaller than South Africa. Myanmar covers 676,577 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
How many times does Myanmar fit into South Africa?
About 1.8 times: South Africa has 1.8× the area of Myanmar.
Why do Myanmar and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Myanmar is drawn about 1.15× 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, Myanmar or South Africa?
South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 54,850,648. Density: Myanmar 81 per km², South Africa 53 per km².