Puerto Rico vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 29.2 times larger than Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico would fit into Western Sahara about 29 times.
Puerto RicoWestern SaharaPuerto Rico moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.03×
Puerto Rico is 0.03× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 29.2× the size of Puerto Rico.
| Puerto Rico | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 9,104 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 3,184,835 | 612,000 |
| Density | 350 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | San Juan | — |
| Region | Caribbean | 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. Puerto Rico sits at about 18°N and is stretched to 1.11× 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 Puerto Rico bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Puerto Rico is 29.2 times smaller than Western Sahara. Puerto Rico covers 9,104 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Puerto Rico fit into Western Sahara?
- About 29 times: Western Sahara has 29.2× the area of Puerto Rico.
- Why do Puerto Rico and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Puerto Rico is drawn about 1.11× 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, Puerto Rico or Western Sahara?
- Puerto Rico: 3,184,835 people against 612,000. Density: Puerto Rico 350 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².