New Caledonia vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 14.3 times larger than New Caledonia. New Caledonia would fit into Western Sahara about 14 times.
New CaledoniaWestern SaharaNew Caledonia moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.07×
New Caledonia is 0.07× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 14.3× the size of New Caledonia.
| New Caledonia | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 18,576 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 295,333 | 612,000 |
| Density | 16 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Noum'ea | — |
| Region | Melanesia | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 0 | 3 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. New Caledonia sits at about 21°S and is stretched to 1.15× 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 New Caledonia bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. New Caledonia is 14.3 times smaller than Western Sahara. New Caledonia covers 18,576 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does New Caledonia fit into Western Sahara?
- About 14 times: Western Sahara has 14.3× the area of New Caledonia.
- Why do New Caledonia and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. New Caledonia is drawn about 1.15× 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, New Caledonia or Western Sahara?
- Western Sahara: 612,000 people against 295,333. Density: New Caledonia 16 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².