Palestine vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 32.4 times larger than Palestine. Palestine would fit into Western Sahara about 32 times.
PalestineWestern SaharaPalestine moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.03×
Palestine is 0.03× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 32.4× the size of Palestine.
| Palestine | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 8,220 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 5,413,596 | 612,000 |
| Density | 659 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | East Jerusalem | — |
| Region | Western Asia | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 3 | 3 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Palestine sits at about 32°N and is stretched to 1.39× 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 Palestine bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Palestine is 32.4 times smaller than Western Sahara. Palestine covers 8,220 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Palestine fit into Western Sahara?
- About 32 times: Western Sahara has 32.4× the area of Palestine.
- Why do Palestine and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Palestine is drawn about 1.39× 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, Palestine or Western Sahara?
- Palestine: 5,413,596 people against 612,000. Density: Palestine 659 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².