Panama vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 3.59 times larger than Panama. Panama would fit into Western Sahara about 3.6 times.
PanamaWestern SaharaPanama moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.28×
Panama is 0.28× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 3.59× the size of Panama.
| Panama | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 74,177 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 4,571,189 | 612,000 |
| Density | 62 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Panama City | — |
| Region | Central America | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | 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. Panama sits at about 9°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 Panama bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Panama is 3.59 times smaller than Western Sahara. Panama covers 74,177 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Panama fit into Western Sahara?
- About 3.6 times: Western Sahara has 3.59× the area of Panama.
- Why do Panama and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Panama 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, Panama or Western Sahara?
- Panama: 4,571,189 people against 612,000. Density: Panama 62 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².