Nepal vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 81% larger than Nepal. Nepal would fit into Western Sahara about 1.8 times.
NepalWestern SaharaNepal moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.55×
Nepal is 0.55× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 1.81× the size of Nepal.
| Nepal | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 147,181 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 29,618,118 | 612,000 |
| Density | 201 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Kathmandu | — |
| Region | Southern Asia | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 2 | 3 |
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; 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 Nepal bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Nepal is 45% smaller than Western Sahara. Nepal covers 147,181 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Nepal fit into Western Sahara?
- About 1.8 times: Western Sahara has 1.81× the area of Nepal.
- Why do Nepal and Western Sahara 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 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, Nepal or Western Sahara?
- Nepal: 29,618,118 people against 612,000. Density: Nepal 201 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².