Palau vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 571 times larger than Palau. Palau would fit into Western Sahara about 571 times.
PalauWestern SaharaPalau moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.0×
Palau is 0.0× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 571× the size of Palau.
| Palau | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 466 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 17,663 | 612,000 |
| Density | 38 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Koror | — |
| Region | Micronesia | 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. Palau sits at about 7°N and is stretched to 1.02× 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 Palau bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Palau is 571 times smaller than Western Sahara. Palau covers 466 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Palau fit into Western Sahara?
- About 571 times: Western Sahara has 571× the area of Palau.
- Why do Palau and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Palau is drawn about 1.02× 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, Palau or Western Sahara?
- Western Sahara: 612,000 people against 17,663. Density: Palau 38 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².