Peru vs South Africa
Peru is 5% larger than South Africa.
PeruSouth AfricaPeru moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
1.05×
Peru is 1.05× the area of South Africa.
| Peru | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 1,285,216 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 34,576,665 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 27 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Lima | Pretoria |
| Region | South America | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 5 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Peru sits at about 9°S and is stretched to 1.03× its true area; South Africa at 29° S is stretched to 1.31×. 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 Peru bigger than South Africa?
- Yes. Peru is 5% larger than South Africa. Peru covers 1,285,216 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does South Africa fit into Peru?
- About 1.1 times: Peru has 1.05× the area of South Africa.
- Why do Peru and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Peru is drawn about 1.03× its true area there and South Africa about 1.31×. 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, Peru or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 34,576,665. Density: Peru 27 per km², South Africa 53 per km².