Qatar vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 23.3 times larger than Qatar. Qatar would fit into Western Sahara about 23 times.
QatarWestern SaharaQatar moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.04×
Qatar is 0.04× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 23.3× the size of Qatar.
| Qatar | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 11,437 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 2,972,215 | 612,000 |
| Density | 260 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Doha | — |
| Region | Western Asia | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 1 | 3 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Qatar sits at about 25°N and is stretched to 1.22× 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 Qatar bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Qatar is 23.3 times smaller than Western Sahara. Qatar covers 11,437 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Qatar fit into Western Sahara?
- About 23 times: Western Sahara has 23.3× the area of Qatar.
- Why do Qatar and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Qatar is drawn about 1.22× 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, Qatar or Western Sahara?
- Qatar: 2,972,215 people against 612,000. Density: Qatar 260 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².