Nepal vs South Africa

South Africa is 8.3 times larger than Nepal. Nepal would fit into South Africa about 8.3 times.

NepalSouth AfricaNepal moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.12×
Nepal is 0.12× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 8.3× the size of Nepal.
NepalSouth Africa
Area147,181 km²1,221,037 km²
Population29,618,11864,747,319
Density201 / km²53 / km²
CapitalKathmanduPretoria
RegionSouthern AsiaSouthern Africa
CoastlineLandlockedHas a coast
Neighbours26

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Nepal sits at about 28°N and is stretched to 1.29× 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 Nepal bigger than South Africa?
No. Nepal is 8.3 times smaller than South Africa. Nepal covers 147,181 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
How many times does Nepal fit into South Africa?
About 8.3 times: South Africa has 8.3× the area of Nepal.
Why do Nepal and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Nepal is drawn about 1.29× 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, Nepal or South Africa?
South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 29,618,118. Density: Nepal 201 per km², South Africa 53 per km².