Nigeria vs Western Sahara
Nigeria is 3.47 times larger than Western Sahara. Western Sahara would fit into Nigeria about 3.5 times.
NigeriaWestern SaharaNigeria moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
3.47×
Nigeria is 3.47× the area of Western Sahara.
| Nigeria | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 923,768 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 237,527,782 | 612,000 |
| Density | 257 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Abuja | — |
| Region | Western Africa | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 4 | 3 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Nigeria sits at about 10°N and is stretched to 1.03× 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 Nigeria bigger than Western Sahara?
- Yes. Nigeria is 3.47 times larger than Western Sahara. Nigeria covers 923,768 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Western Sahara fit into Nigeria?
- About 3.5 times: Nigeria has 3.47× the area of Western Sahara.
- Why do Nigeria and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Nigeria is drawn about 1.03× 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, Nigeria or Western Sahara?
- Nigeria: 237,527,782 people against 612,000. Density: Nigeria 257 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².